You cannot effectively and for the long-term establish Interest without a keen understanding (and in some ways, faith) not just in those specific things in which your target demo is tangibly interested, but also in how they become interested.
If you understand how customers become interested in products and brands, then in some ways what that product is is of secondary importance. If we look back at fads and trends on products past, we can see that the human race as gone crazy for some right bizarre brands – yet they did because the company managed to create the fad – that is a process, not a thing. That is HOW we market a product, not just the the product.
Process is just as important as product. The common phrases, “I like how you think” and “I like how you do things” provide insight into what creates bonds between people: it’s not just what people do, it’s how they do it.
Being in sync with “The How” allows a marketing strategy to be fluid, dynamic, and up-to-date in the long term – even as their “thing” interests change. How a company markets its products can create just as much of a brand identity as the products they sell and the branding they employ.
In truth…HOW we market can potentially be more important and more effective than WHAT we market. You need a great product to build loyalty, but not necessarily to generate interest.
Take a moment or two to think about points in your life during which your own interest in something has been established. Maybe 50% of the time your “interest spark” is due to facts and specs, the product itself. Deeper down — the core interest — is sparked by a more remedial or instinctive catalyst. Interest also has a touch of “truthiness” and gut feeling.
Personify the concept and take the traditional “sex sells” paradigm: You see someone at a bar or in a park and are suddenly interested. Why? Do you know their name? Their history? Their tech specs? No. It’s something else.
Sometimes interest is sparked simply because you’re at the same venue, or more personally, they look like you or someone you know. That kind of interest is a more profound type that Marketing can achieve when we take time to think about how we campaign just as much as what we’re selling. So long as ads, placements, and language feel the same or familiar, then those aspects spark the gut feeling, which dramatically increases your chances at converting Interest into a sale.
“How” we communicate a product and its benefits can direct you the right locations and marketing channels to place yourself. Focusing on “the How” It also teaches you how to more effectively communicate with your target. It teaches you the language. It allows you to wear their shoes and see from the inside their needs, and if your product is something from which they can benefit. It helps you mold style, vibe, and product so that it feels familiar and comfortable.The most powerful Interest is emotional, personal, and lacks detailed information. This isn’t necessarily anything new, but it is often forgotten in the fervor of 20 minute news cycles, teenage blogging empires, and social media trends that last little more than a day. Always remember, “I like how you do things.“
