While I was watching football the other night, Shadow, my 95-pound chocolate lab (and marketing educator), jumped up and ran into the living room. Ears up, looking around, intent on finding something. What that something was, to be exact, was a squeaky dog toy. The one he heard coming from a TV commercial. Now Shadow never watches or listens to the TV. It’s just not on his radar. He tunes it out, pretty much the way we tune out and self-filter most television commercials. But when he heard the sound coming from the TV it certainly got his attention. Sadly, for Shadow, the squeaky toy he was looking for doesn’t exist anymore because he chewed it to pieces.
Later that evening he was laying in front of the TV when the commercial came on again. This time he looked up and stared at the TV for a second, and then went back to chewing on another toy.
Like Shadow, the only thing I noticed about the commercial was the squeaking noise, and his reaction. I had tuned out what was on TV and had no clue what product was being sold until I Googled “squeaky dog toy television commercial.” I discovered that it was in fact a Toyota commercial, and that other people’s dogs were reacting the same way.
We tune out ads and commercials. We find them to be a bother. Shadow has no interest in the television. Ever. Until the other night when someone started to speak his language and offer him exactly what he wanted. They got his attention. Too bad dogs don’t buy cars.
What are we doing to get the attention of our customer? And I don’t mean yelling or speaking at them more loudly. Here are a few hints on how to get their attention:
1) Speak their language – Every community has it’s own language. If you’re speaking to computer geeks you will use different terms than you would if you were speaking to horse enthusiasts. This requires knowing your audience, which should be a no-brainer if you are creating products or services for that audience. And don’t try to fake it. Consumers know when the person on the other has no clue what they are talking about. If you need help, why not ask a few of your more engaged customers to help you.
2) Be interesting and engaging – Now that you speak the language, you have to get our attention. Find something that makes us WANT to listen to what you have to say.
3) Relevant content – Speaking their language and being interesting are just the start. You can be as engaging and understandable as possible, but if you have nothing to say, we will turn you off. Give us meaningful content. Content that we find useful, and content that makes us trust you.
I’m not sure what Toyota’s intent was with the squeaky dog toy. Perhaps they had an idea that by making Shadow and other dogs go nuts, they would get our attention. If so, it worked to a degree. And if it was intentional, not a bad tactic. Get man’s best friend to notice, and perhaps the man himself will wake up from his slumber on the couch and pay attention as well.
Thank you, Shadow, for this timely reminder.
How are you making sure that you’re getting the attention of your prospective customers? Is it enough to bring them into your online community? Or enough to engage the community members who are already there? Remember, like Shadow, many of us are very A.D.D. when it comes to marketing messages. You have to continually find new ways to keep us engaged, or we’ll walk away.
You can read more of Shadow’s sage advice in my earlier blogs here and here.
