By: Kirby G Mack (Vice President of Digital Media)
Roth IRA, 401(k), fiduciary, Delaware Statuary Trusts, living wills, holistic planning… Have I bored you yet?
There are certain industries that, let’s face it, are not that exciting to talk about. But the service is crucial, and the value is unmeasurable. Retirement and financial planning are one of them but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have highly effective marketing. I know you see them. In every airport or on the back of every city bus, you see that mature, grey-haired couple smiling and having a blast. And that is pretty much how retirement planners market. That’s the extent of it. “Live your best retirement…” That’s the overall message we always see. And because of that, I would challenge you to ask yourself this: If everyone is marketing the same, how are you standing out? What sets you apart? What makes you memorable? How can you utilize highly effective marketing?
Sidebar: “Consumers are exposed to countless new brands and messages every single day. Whether you’re a business owner or a member of the team, it’s important to understand how critical your daily participation in branding is for your success.” Click here to watch The Costumer Journey for more information on branding and brand differentiators for financial advisors.
Some of the best marketing campaigns were counted out before they even started. Take Coca-Cola, for example. They committed one of the biggest marketing “sins” years ago. They removed their timeless, classic logo from their bottle.
That’s right. In 2011, after facing 10 years of slumping sales, Coca-Cola removed their logo and replaced it with 150 of the most popular names in each country they served. This strategy alone would make them an estimated $2 billion in sales. But why did this work? Well, for a few reasons:
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- Personalizing the label turned it into a gift. When you’re in the gas station and you are deciding what drink to purchase, you are likely going to gravitate towards the one that has your name on it. It’s the same reason we buy those silly license plate keychains or refrigerator magnets. It makes us feel important. It makes us feel individually valued. Also, if while on your way to check out a few of your friends or co-workers’ names grab your attention, now you purchase those as well! You can’t help but imagine the smiles and euphoric feelings you will receive once you deliver your loved ones a personalized bottle of Coca-Cola. It’s ingenious.
- The cleverest kind of marketing isn’t perceived as marketing at all. Look at what Coke accomplished. They got millions of people to not only purchase their product simply because it was personally branded but that consumer then took photos of that Coca-Cola bottle and shared it across all their social media platforms, instantly giving Coke millions of impressions and putting them top of mind. Have a Coke, share a smile.
Now the question is, what can you do to have highly effective marketing? How can your marketing not be boring? Well, here are a few examples of some top-of-the-line, highly effective marketing campaigns that I’ve come across. Let’s break down what they did and why it worked.
Be Topical
Recently, David and Victoria Beckham went viral for a moment in their newest documentary, “Beckham.” In it, Victoria was giving commentary on how she grew up, and in an attempt to relate to the common person, she claimed she came from a “working-class family.” David immediately pokes his head around the door and pleads with Victoria to “be honest.” See, while she claims she came from a working-class family, it is later revealed that her Dad drove her to school every morning in a Rolls Royce.
Papier, a notebook, journal, and stationery company, decided to get in on the viral meme fun with a meme of their own. Only this meme cleverly serves as an ad. The timeliness and humor work to their advantage as social media users will repost and share. Essentially, like Coca-Cola, turning the consumer into a free marketing agency.
Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
Take this roofing ad, for example.
This is another marketing campaign that went viral and reached more people than intended. They put a very clever, very funny message on a billboard. And what’s the purpose of a billboard? It’s intended to only reach those eyeballs in a very small proximity. But when your marketing is as clever as this, many people are bound to take a photo of it and share it. So not only does a campaign like this have the potential to go viral and be successful across multiple platforms, but it leaves an impression. Someone is bound to bring this up in conversation, “Have you seen the Billboard that says…” It becomes a timeless ad because it’s talked about and shared at the water cooler or dinner table over and over again. And we all know the value of word of mouth.
Be Bold
Coke Vs Pepsi. Mac Vs P.C. Burger King Vs McDonald’s. Everyone loves a good rivalry. And one thing Burger King has consistently done well, other than flame broiling that meat, is being bold in their marketing. Burger King consistently stands behind their belief that they are the better product. A marketing strategy like this helps create brand loyalty. Instinctually, we all gravitate towards tribalism. It’s in our DNA. We all want to belong, and we all want to be part of a team. From sports to politics, we want to paint our faces and wave our flags high. It’s human nature. And in marketing campaigns like this, Burger King really helps fuel that desire.
Use The Wrong Message
It’s not often people will tell you to give bad or wrong advice. But, in some cases, it can play to your benefit. Above, we see an ad for a funeral home. By them delivering the wrong message they are very effectively marketing their services. And again, as reiterated in the previous examples, the most effective marketing campaigns are the ones that stick out. They are the ones that get you to click, stop the scrolling, and take a second look.
For example, by telling you NOT to buy the jacket, in the example below, Patagonia is forcing your resistance to work in their favor. You see the ad, and now you want the jacket. How dare you tell me what not to do. These types of ads thrive off of your reactance. Reactance is an unpleasant motivational arousal that emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of their free behaviors. It serves as a motivator to restore one’s freedom. So, by telling you what NOT to do and by using an unexpected headline (as you can see the Army did as well in the example below), the ad really grabs the consumer’s attention and helps ensure that you stand out over all the other clutter and noise.
Sidebar: “The words you choose can impact the effectiveness of your message and the way it is perceived by your audience, subconsciously as well as consciously.” For more information on ways to craft headlines that generate results, click here!
Be Honest and Transparent.
The internet has given everyone the ability to have a voice and “make it matter.” And people do not hold back.
Mike Tyson said it the best:
“Social media made y’all way too comfortable with disrespecting people and not getting punched in the face for it.” -Mike Tyson
And while that’s a bit drastic, it’s true.
So, why not use that to your advantage? If you have a negative review that can spark a conversation or help enlighten people on a different perspective, you’d be silly not to put it out there. Most companies tend to try to bury or just flat-out ignore the negative. In some cases, you can and should embrace it. Embrace the suck. I like to call this the 8 Mile Rule. I’m not sure if you are familiar with the Eminem movie 8 Mile, but in it, an aspiring battle rapper, B Rabbit, shines a light on all of the negative information his opponent can use against him to make him seem “less than” and incompetent. He then proceeds to make people see all of that information in a different light by providing an alternative context. In the end, B Rabbit wins the battle rap and the respect of his peers. So essentially, by embracing the reality and changing the narrative, you turn that negative into a big positive. You draw eyes to your product and you show them that you are not afraid.
So while it may seem difficult to find new ways to have highly effective marketing for you as a retirement or financial planning advisor, it’s far from impossible. In reality, all it takes is stepping outside of the box and being confident in your product and your message. To learn about more ways you can STAND OUT ABOVE THE CROWD,
