Posted by 
Archived in When it comes to selling or marketing, everyone needs an ‘in’. A means of distinguishing yourself from competitors.
These days, you face much competition in business so you have to get your benefits over quickly and succinctly - your ‘elevator pitch’ if you like - to be noticed at all.
Never before have customers had such a range of products and services to choose from. And with the web all pervasive, it’s incredibly easy to compare everything from price to quality.
So, how do you get the customer to choose you?
Much has been said about the need for businesses to have a USP (unique selling point) or ESP (emotional selling point).
The major problem with a USP is that it can be fairly easily copied, (how many truly original business ideas have you seen recently?) and psychologists latest thinking is that ESPs are not valid because people are incredibly complex, with both rational and emotional motivators mixed together within any decision to buy.
So what are we left with?
The Engaging Selling Point - EnSP
This latest school of thought can be defined as the engagement, interaction and INVOLVEMENT of the customer.
The Point of Engagement is the point when a message is no longer ignored but rather triggers a sense of interaction and involvement. This occurs where speaker and listener are completely and utterly connecting on the same wavelength.
The most successful products or services in today’s B2B/C marketplaces often rely on their EnSP.
Your EnSP: Create an experience to get customer buy-in
When we go to sell our houses, why do we ensure the kitchen smells of coffee or have the smell of freshly baked bread wafting around? It’s more than likely because we want to evoke a feeling of homeliness and comfort that everyone relates to. We’re trying to trigger a number of senses in the brain.
The engaging selling point works in a similar way; no longer are you selling AT, or marketing TO a customer, you are striking a chord to involve them and most importantly to elicit an action from them.
Viral marketing and the EnSP
Instead of traditional ads where the product or service is front and centre, viral ads are stories or narratives, sometimes told in episodes which are distributed over the internet, via email or other digital means. They’re often movies, games, or Flash animations whose aim is to engage and entertain as a precursor to selling.
If they’re funny or engaging, they’re passed on from one consumer to another - and so the legwork of promotional effort is done for the advertiser. Very clever and very cost-effective. Good examples have been produced by IKEA, Virgin Money, Mini and Trojan condoms, which were all very engaging and entertaining.
Viral ads use the Engaging Selling Point to great effect. They can be relatively cheap to produce, and are often more credible and believable than standard forms of advertising in the eyes of the public, as they are not forced on the individual but passed to them by friends, family or colleagues.
Applying your EnSP
You don’t have to invest in an online marketing campaign to start using your EnSP. The first step in discovering your business’ EnSP is to apply some lateral creative thinking to your product or service.
Then find an entertaining and memorable story to engage or involve your customers.
Choose your media - you can use your EnSP across all levels of marketing, in adverts, direct mail, print, viral campaigns, websites and e-marketing.
Your EnSP can be rational or emotional, or a mix of the two - but above all - it doesn’t talk at the customer - it INVOLVES them.
July 5th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Nice website!!