When was the last time you lied to your customers?
Before you respond with a hasty ‘never’, I’d urge you to take a moment to think it through…
It’s actually far more common than you think for businesses to tell lies and make unfounded promises to their customers – it’s just that half the time companies aren’t even aware they are doing it!
For example, think about all of the content that you, as a business, put out to the wider world; your website, emails, articles, social media posts, adverts, the list goes on.
How many times have you claimed something like “we can cater to any business of any size” or “we deliver on time, every time”, or even “we are unrivalled in our field”?
If you have, the chances are you’re not being entirely truthful. Can you really cater to any business of any size? If you can’t, you’re deceiving your customers…and that’s never a good foundation to build your customer relationships from.
If you want to be able to increase your sales, you need to take a good hard look at what kind of content you are putting in front of your target audience – seducing your customers without lying to them is not as straightforward as it might seem!
Isn’t seducing customers easy?
If your website is focused on telling your customers what it is that you do, you’ll be struggling to seduce anyone.
What do I mean by this? Well, most business websites will focus on exactly what it is your company does, whether it is the service it provides, or the products it sells. After all, it’s important your customers understand what it is you do, and what it is you’re about, right?
The thing that most businesses miss with all this, is that those potential customers have most likely arrived at your website because they already know what you do and sell. They might have been recommended your company by a friend, noticed an advert or, even more likely, Googled the service that you happen to provide which has lead them to your website.
9 times out of 10, anyone landing on your homepage already knows what you do.
To really nail your website content and get your customer seduction right, you need to be thinking beyond the limits of what it is your business does, and instead focus on what it is your customers actually want.
What are your customers looking for that has lead them to your website? What is it they really need?
It could be that they want to save money on their next tax bill, get the best deal on their car insurance, or perhaps book a holiday with a provider that has the best customer reviews.
Whatever it is you are selling, being able to hone in on what it is your customer wants is the key to better marketing. Think about it; using an entire landing page to explain where your offices are, how many years you’ve been in business or what industry awards you’ve recently won, is far from seductive!
When seduction becomes deceit
Of course, there’s a very fine line between seduction and deception and it’s easy to cross it.
The bottom line is, promises to customers mean nothing if you can’t (or don’t) follow through with them. When marketing seduction slips into deception, it can no doubt hurt your business whether that’s in the form of loss of sales or a damaged reputation.
Ultimately, you have to deliver on your promise…and that means only claiming what you truly can provide and not just something that sounds good or that you think people want to hear!
It’s the difference between a mediocre product or service, and one that your customers are able to trust in time and time again.
If you’d like to talk in further detail about how to stay on the right side of marketing seduction and deceit, or would just like some tips in building trust with your customers, I am always happy to have a chat – just drop me a line and I will get straight back to you.
