Is your sales and marketing taking into account one of the most basic components of human nature: are your prospects extroverts or introverts?
What changes can you make to tune your marketing to this aspect of your prospects and customers?
Marketing to the Introvert: Energy from Ideas
Introverts get their energy from ideas. All they need is the idea; they’ll take it from there. Email is the ideal response mechanism for introverts. It’s not, however, the ideal direct marketing method. How many techie introverts do you know that want to receive unsolicited email? Introverts have become expert at filtering out spam. The huge anti-spam industry has not been developed by salesman.
Introverts of all types will, however, read direct marketing material (a piece of paper received via postal mail) if it presents valuable ideas – not just information but an actionable idea or two – where they can respond via email. After all, introverts enjoy a moment of peace, which is what mail provides them. Asking for a phone call is completely wasting precious marketing space, unless it can be preceded by a visit to an informative web site filled with data, information and clear product benefits.
Of course, if you are in a technical field, you’ll immediately dismiss the idea of sending paper. And that is the problem exactly. Your own preference for introversion interferes with sound marketing decision-making. After 15 years of the Web, why is your home and business mail still filled with direct marketing? Because it is profitable. Direct
marketers do not mail unprofitable packages. Like the Web, direct marketing is all about the numbers: who responded, when, which version of the package had a higher response, etc. Now those companies who only have an online business are putting out printed catalogs. That’s why am I receiving printed catalogs from Vistaprint, one of the best online printers.
But, direct mail won’t work in my technical industry, you say. It will if it is targeted to your customer type, the introvert, and the response mechanism is online.
Marketing to the Extrovert: Energy from Engaging
The extrovert seeks energy from other people. How can you give this person more energy through your marketing? A phone number for instant expertise (not an 800 operator). Live chat. Videos. Exciting copy and visuals. Excitement!! Email links that bring her to an exciting landing page. Did I mention excitement? Tweet. Make her laugh. Now that you have her attention, engage her in your product. Give her something active to do, even if it is to page through an online presentation, but it had better be entertaining.
The most important aspect is to allow your extroverted customer to express an opinion. Most corporate web sites exclude this option except for a Contact Us email address. There is no forum for customers to talk with each other. My experience is that this idea frightens most management. What if they say something bad about our product? Well, would you like that discussion to be outside of your knowledge base or in a place that you can respond so that all customers can see your opinion and response?
Now begs the question: which ones are my customers? Are they primarily introverts or extroverts? How can I tell? Job title is the place to start, coupled with research as to the behavioral preferences of people who are employed in those positions. I can help with that.
The time has come to think a bit differently about customers and the people around you. It’s time to get back to the basics, to pay attention to the fundamentals of behavior, apply them to your marketing, and deliver messages that resonate with your potential customers. Contact Gene Bellotti for more information.
