Presently, an increasing number of marketing strategies rely on directing the consumer’s attention to a message rather than presenting a complete product. Through videos, blogs, blogs written by the consumers, etc., marketers are attempting to engage with their target audiences. The main goal is to drive consumers into a conclusion and begin a buying cycle.

Some companies have recently included this type of tactic as a strategy into their advertisement campaigns, specifically for their diet foods. While this is a creative solution for differentiating their products in comparison to others, this approach limits the effectiveness of their ad campaigns. The problem with this type of advertising is that consumers can get confused and will still choose the competing product. This is because the individual’s attention is not directed into the desired sale, but into the advertisement. The question is, how do companies avoid attracting consumers into the clutches of a rival?

The Marketing Machine

Here is an analogy to help with the above notion. If a customer wishes to buy a new car, but a competitor’s dealer is giving out a discount on that brand, this car is more easily compared to the previous one. Since the economy is booming, consumers can turn to the competitor’s model and retain some of their pocket money while avoiding buying an additional expensive model.

People have been using techniques to encourage shoppers from another brand by cutting a coupon and handing it to the person shopping around for the new product. This logic is key in getting people to come to the store for a product that already has a great deal and other offers offered by a competitor.

However, this step of driving consumers toward their brand is not the best method for redirecting focus. It should be the other way around to the person’s benefit. This means that the people are making a purchase decision on a brand that’s already chosen them.

Once the consumer enters the store, they need to think about how to move forward. This is when they feel that they are treated differently than the customers from the competing brand. They feel like their attention is not being directed to them, but to the other brand. They think that they are being discriminated against and are then more inclined to shop elsewhere.

For this reason, the consumer should feel like they are a part of the conversation, rather than being cast aside. A common example of this strategy is frequent customer service calls. From time to time, a customer will be shopping around for the best deal and approaches a sales representative. Then, it is the sales representative’s job to respond appropriately to the question. They act as an honest advocate for the product to the customer without ever crossing the line of being biased. This stops the customer from leaving to make their purchase elsewhere.

Contact Information

When marketing companies use the idea of the creation of an informational ad campaign, it is essential to include contact information for the company. Marketing firms must make sure that their information is available online so that the consumer can contact them directly. We spoke with many companies who shared that getting the contact information was a huge challenge. Sometimes companies found this cumbersome because they were spending so much money creating the ads that they did not have the cash to pay for the number on their business cards. It is good to ensure that you provide contact information that is easily available.

This can only work if a person clicks a specific tab when clicking on an ad. Obviously, the person must be at the “about” button at the top of the ad.