tell the customer what to do .
• Keep it simple and intuitive : Customers will not stay long enough to figure out how to do things or where to find things . Avoid redundancy . Redundancy is the main cause of excess verbiage .
• Deliver quickly once you get the order : This is an instant world . People expect it immediately . The service standards you compete with are expected to be high . Perfect service is now the expected norm .
ARE THERE SPECIFIC STRATEGIES THAT YOU HAVE USED IN THE PAST AND KNOW WORK THAT HELP TO GRAB CONSUMER ATTENTION ? People have limited time and even smaller attention spans . The key in marketing is to capture some of this limited attention span and to get people to read more . So it pays to understand what things people read first , because this is where you need to grab attention .
People tend to read the following :
• Headlines
• Subtitles and subheadings
• Photo captions
• Short bolded or highlighted text
• Small insert-boxes
• Handwritten notes
Of course , this does not mean you can overwhelm your audience with too many “ things that get read first ” or none of them will get read . And each of these has different uses in different contexts . For example , a handwritten note in an ad on the internet does nothing , whereas a handwritten post-it note on a mailing gets attention .
So we have to ask ourselves , “ What sorts of things grab attention ?” Here are some answers :
• Curiosity — If you can arouse curiosity , people will read more . How many people reading this interview have looked up the Danby Appliances “ Flip Your Fridge ” video ? Your curiosity was piqued !
• Humour — If people feel they will
PEOPLE TEND TO READ THE FOLLOWING
- Headlines - Subtitles and Subheadings - Photo Captions - Short Bolded or Highlighted Text - Small Insert-Boxes - Handwritten Notes
be entertained , they will read more .
• Emotions — Shock and awe can grab attention . People buy first with their emotions , which is why most large agency ads play to emotions . Without attention , you do not get read . So it is worth spending time on what people first pay attention to — emotions .
MARKETING HAS SEEN A DRAMATIC SHIFT IN RECENT YEARS FROM PRINT TO DIGITAL . HOW DOES SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT HOW YOU REACH CUSTOMERS ? Media has changed drastically over the last several years . It was formerly a shout box from brands to consumers . Television , radio , and print : that was about it . Then technology and the internet came along with a major curveball . The world went online and sources of information increased dramatically . Blogs , Twitter , Facebook , LinkedIn , and other social media became easily accessible .
Social media is one of the best ways to use curiosity , humour , and emotions . Using social media to promote a business or product is easy ; however , using it properly is sometimes difficult . It is important to make sure you post interesting content and
post often . But you also don ’ t want to post too often and bombard your customers . I decided to start sending out daily quotations from famous people . I know that email is an “ interrupting medium ,” so I chose to send them only by Twitter , LinkedIn , Facebook , a post to a Tumblr page , and to a section on my blog . That way , people only see them if they choose to look . At the same time , I ’ m keeping my network engaged , because when people see these quotes , they think of me , and when they think of me , they think of Danby Appliances .
Running a business can be a great thing , and you can have a lot of fun while learning and implementing guerilla marketing tactics and using social media to market yourself and your company . Business and marketing practices are constantly changing , and although it can be daunting , it is important to adapt and change with them . Following some of these tactics can help you grow your good business into a great business . As I said earlier , I started my business in the 1970 ’ s from the trunk of my car and grew it into a $ 2 billion corporation just by following good marketing principles . If I can achieve that kind of business success , so can you . It just takes a lot of hard work and a lot of imagination . +
Jim Estill started a computer distribution company ( EMJ Data Systems Ltd .) from the trunk of his car in 1979 . With a great team , he built the company up to $ 350,000,000 in sales and sold it to SYNNEX in September , 2004 . He then became CEO of SYNNEX Canada until May 2009 , growing sales from $ 800,000,000 to $ 2 billion . Jim has been the CEO at Danby Appliances since June , 2015 .
Jim has always had an interest in early-stage technology businesses and was on the Board of BlackBerry ( previously Research in Motion ) for 13 years , including before it went public . He has also written two management books , Time Leadership – Lessons from a CEO and Zero to $ 2 Billion : The Marketing and Branding Story behind the Growth .
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