Do you remember the last time that you went to a carnival and visited a house of mirrors? As you felt your way around the different rooms, curved glass bent your reflection into unrecognizable odd shapes. Staring into the mirror you might have been surprised by how smooshed your head was, or that your feet looked like you were wearing clown shoes.
We all know that the distorted reflection that we see when we stare into a carnival mirror is only temporary. When we get back home we are greeted by our normal reflection, and we no longer look like a clown.
Effective Marketing Reflects the Customer Back to Themselves
When you encounter a marketing message it can feel like you are walking through a house of mirrors to find the truth. Wonky marketing messages distort the product being offered and it can feel like looking into a carnival mirror. In the worst cases what the customer ends up receiving isn't what they paid for.
Customers hate this, and this is why many of them are skeptical of marketing. Nobody likes a company that inflates its image and doesn't deliver what it promised.
So, how do you take concrete steps to align your actions?
1, You can't reflect what your customer wants back to them without knowing what they want. Until you know what your customer is looking for, everything is just guesswork. By assuming you know what your customer wants your business can end up taking a significant detour from what it should be offering.
To avoid this from happening you should ask each customer what they like the most about your business, and if there is anything else that they wish you had done. This is the best way to get feedback and find what your customer wants.
2. You want to gather enough data points from your customers. Look for patterns. Is there a theme that keeps recurring? Are you getting similar feedback about the positive things that you do? These are the areas that you want to focus on. We can all do a better job of listening to our customers and understanding them. Take what your customers say seriously and make any adjustments that you need to make to your business model.
3. The next step is to take the data that you gather from your customers and reflect it back to them in your marketing campaign. You want to tell your customers what they want to hear but also make sure that you put it into action. The worst mistake that you can make is to preach about all of their great attributes and not deliver on them.
A year ago, I switched phone companies to the company that claimed to be the best provider. The commercials and brand reputation of the phone company sold me on their service. This popular provider promised that everything would be "Better! Better! Better! with eccentric fanfare and gusto displayed prominently in all of their commercials. Smiles adorned the faces of their customers to make their offerings look even more appealing. I was excited to use my new iPhone 13 Pro Max on this company's 5G network. Sadly, this excitement didn't last for long Eight months later I would say that their service is only average at best, and for some reason, my phone doesn't get service at a 7-Eleven close to downtown...
At the time of writing this, multiple fast food companies are under fire for misrepresenting the size of their cheeseburgers in advertisements. The plaintiff, Justin Chimienti, filed a lawsuit, alleging that the companies involved purposely misled their customers through their advertisements into believing that their burgers were 15 to 20 percent larger than they actually were.
As you read about these companies presenting unrealistically juicy burgers, you might pause and say, "Well, we all know that companies lie about things, or exaggerate the truth in advertising." But wait.... why should we be okay with that?! I can't think of anyone that appreciates lies, and I know that customers don't. We have to break out of this standard-fare mentality that it's okay to not live up to customers' expectations. It's damming for any business's reputation and drives a wedge between us and our customers.
We can all think of products that aren't quite what we expected: produce at the grocery store that wasn't ripe, car insurance companies that didn't offer good roadside assistance, or banks that offered poor customer service. Your goal should be to make sure that this doesn't happen in your business. Put yourself in your customer's shoes and treat your customers the way that you want to be treated. Don't misrepresent your offerings or exaggerate yourself. Become your marketing in action. Effective marketing will come to life and embody your promises.
"The core goal of marketing is to align what you say with what you do." - Joanna Wiebe
Let's review the steps that you need to take
1. Know what you need to do (your customers will tell you)
2. Actually do what you say you will (put it to practice in your business)
3. Reflect it back to your customer (talk about them in your marketing campaigns). Doing this will make your customers want to take action. It will show them that you take their concerns seriously and that you are actively seeking to address them in your words and your actions.
4. Periodically evaluate the effectiveness of your campaigns. Are your words still aligning with your business practices? Are your customers satisfied? If you can answer yes to these questions, it's a good sign that you're progressing in the right direction. Be candid and realistic about the feedback that you give yourself and never settle for anything less than honesty and provide your customers with the greatest satisfaction possible.
Practical Application
Let's say that your customer's ideal vision for their home is a place where they can enjoy a clean family environment together, and you want to know why they choose you to clean their home. You perform research with a few dozen of your customers and they let you know that they want to spend a longer time at home when they can enjoy a tidy environment.
Take these messages and reflect them back together in the imagery and words that you use in your marketing.
Reflecting Your Customer's Preferences
Reflect your customer's preferences back to them. Make sure that your marketing isn't like a carnival mirror that misrepresents the services that you offer; you don't want your product to be a distorted version of what you communicate to your customers in your marketing message. When your messages and your business model align your customers will be loyal, trust you, and be impressed with the services that you provide.
Remember that your good intentions alone aren't enough. Intentions are desires expressed as unfulfilled actions. When your actions line up with who you say you want to be you're doing it right.