Submitted by: Denise McLaughlin, WW Integrated Marketing Manager, Enterprise Business Group
I spend a lot of time working on marketing copy – editing headlines, coaching staff to “imagine themselves in the shoes of their customer.” But, even with the best of intentions, we can still fall flat. What’s usually missing is a way to make it personal – to find a deep connection to our customers – revealing something of value about common beliefs that people can relate to and embrace.
One thing I embrace is reading. I’m an avid e-reader. I love my Kindle. When I find someone else who also loves their Kindle, we get mutually jazzed. That’s because we both love and value the same things about it …a book anytime, anywhere, on demand. We love the whole way it put multiple books in the palm of our hand. We share a belief that creates passion and excitement about our choice and can’t imagine life without it. We’ve connected in an authentic way because we know something about each other, and that builds trust. As Simon Sinek said, “make it about your customers not you.” Sinek stresses that if you say and do what you believe then you will attract people who believe those same things. Kindle did just that by creating a product that mattered to their customers.
As a B2B marketer, it’s sometimes tougher to find ways to make connections that are so passionate and personal, when the buyers of our technology and services aren’t necessarily the final consumers of the solution or the work experiences it supports. So, does it make sense to invest in ways to connect to the end users, the knowledge workers themselves, and if so, how do we do it?
This leads us to think more about the end user experiences, the ones that we deliver to business people every day through our technology and services. At some level, intentional experience design should foster a deeper connection with the maker’s brand, even for ordinary everyday interactions. I’m not talking Hal from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” where you’re faced with soft spoken printers that start up a conversation – “Good morning Beth, how was your coffee today, scan initiated, did you sleep well?” (Well maybe?)
In general, the less you have to think about the everyday technology you use to get your job done, the better. But interactions that are really simple, fast, and highly targeted and specific to what you do are rapidly becoming a universal concept (think “there’s an app for that“). We can easily envision almost any technology becoming more like a personal appliance, or at least a more purposeful one. The way we feel while getting our jobs done – using technology at our disposal – ideally becomes a valued, easily embraced habit. That kind of experience will also say something authentic about its maker, what they believe, why they designed it that way, and might be the very best way to foster a real, valued deep connection with customers. Maybe in some small way like the one I have with my Kindle.
What’s most important to you when it comes to your experiences with software, websites, or any product technology?
