This approach is relevant whether you are a sole trader or a national firm in the market. Ultimately, it will define what your brand really stands for in the eyes of the customer.
We have undertaken extensive research with brokers over several years into what our marketing approach should be, and brokers have consistently told us they no longer want us to tell them about our products, they already know this.
In some instances they even know when we are going to be marketing a product.
What they do want is valuable, educational, editorial content which they can then use with their own customers to address some of the challenging issues or questions they may face.
For example, when to choose a product transfer versus a remortgage, how to explain interest rates to your customers and so on.
Do your research
The same research principals also apply to your firm.
The benefit of talking to customers about something other than the products you offer are multiple – after all, they know what you sell as it usually says it in your firm name, your strap-line or slogan and most certainly on your website.
So what are the benefits:
- You start to build a genuine brand story – If you continually convey sense or demonstrate that you know what you are talking about, your customers will start believing you.
- Retention gets easier – As an extension to the above point, word-of-mouth will spread to other customers that ‘they what they are talking about’. So your approach to marketing almost becomes self-fulfilling – the more quality content you produce, it is likely that you will find more people knocking at your door.
- Differentiation – Most of your competitors are probably all doing the same basic kind of marketing activity, so this will be a real point of advantage for you.
Distribution strategy
Once you have developed quality-led content, how do you deliver it to your customers, or at least ensure that they are getting visibility?
Well the principals of my previous blog do not change, in my view the most effective channels are your website, e-mail and social media.
Each of these media provide you with enough space to deliver content that may be longer than a simple product-led message. What’s more they are effective and low-cost.
So this is really about defining your firm’s brand, and most importantly separating you from the competition.
Note: These are my personal views and not those of Lloyds Banking Group
