Marketing a Cluttered World: Impacting the Impulse

In marketing the one main goal is to impact your audience enough to buy your product. However, in today's world, advertisements are every where making a big clutter of ads. This creates a lesser impact of your marketing campaigns because everyone ends up saying the same thing. So the real question is how to impact the customers impulse beyond all the clutter and
noise out there.

First, I want to make sure you understand what I mean by clutter. Think on how many commercials you see in a TV show. Think on how many commercials you actually remember after the show. Then think on how many you remember the next day. Some may say that they remember one or two. Others may say that forgot it as soon as the commercial ended. This is why repetition is vital. However, it doesn't stop there. You have to look forward to the next time it is shown. The Darth Vader Kid ad during the "big game" of 2012 was a great example. It was comedy and cute together. People loved it and it became a viral hit on the Internet. However, that might set the bar just a little high for a small business but it is something to inspire your aspirations of what you might want to do. There are several thousands that are huge hits but there are billions more that people do not remember. That's the clutter and the focus is to be somewhere in between.

Everyone in marketing should know this rule: *10% of an Ad gets them looking at the fad* So then the clutter increases because they think the more they advertise the more money the make. How many car commercials all look the same but there are soooo many? How many billboard ads looks like the last one? This is the effect of clutter. However, this leaves the opportunity for smart business owners to step past the clutter and get noticed.

Back to my questions before. There are a few ads or commercials that make it past the ad noise of today. There are those that would remember a commercial that they emotionally connected with. However, because people are different, you have to pick your audience depending on your business, service and what your advertising budget is. It is hard to advise exactly to what you need for your business. However, here is a breakdown or three simple ways to get you started.

1. Coupons - There are a couple of coupon companies out there that do group coupons. People are trying to save money now-a-days and you can gain new customers by giving out coupons. These coupons market to bring businesses and customers together even for the small companies.

2. Simple & Direct - People are looking for honest businesses that wont take advantage. In today's economy people are leery of spending money because they might get a better price or guarantee somewhere else. So they don't want to waste the little amount of money they have. They have to feel they are done right. It is as simple and direct as promising in your ad that you will treat them right. So put up a sign like "Honesty is Our Best Policy." You might feel like you are being old-fashioned but people are looking for that honest old-fashioned business owner to support.

3. Find The Emotional Connection - Sometimes your particular product can connect with your customers in a special way. May it be your fun loving staff, or your product that brings something special to your customer's life. You might have to do a little research and development to find the connection. So I would suggest a focus group of your customers first, and then you can piece the "puzzle" from there.

By starting out with these steps you can impact potential customer’s impulse guaranteed. Just like in any business you can have a great product but if nobody buys it it’s worthless. Getting people to act on their impulses to buy will make up that difference. Let’s face it you can only do so much and you may have to go back to the drawing board several times to figure what works best for you and your business. I wish you luck in your endeavors and hope this information helped make you successful.