How You Can Light Up Your Products With Stories

Dear Reader,

Hi from New York City where the days keep getting shorter and shorter.

Each day, the sun shines brightly for a coffee break’s worth of time.

And it leaves a faint shadow to light the rest of the day.

While I get up at the same time as last week, the sky is dark and it seems to stay dark for longer than the day before.

Over the weekend, my husband and I walked around Gramercy Park. On the northeast corner across from the park, the knight had a red mask and a Christmas wreath.

People were out and shopping. The Nike Store on Fifth Avenue had a line of people waiting to get in. It went around the block because people were socially distancing.

The good news:
Chanukah, the Jewish holiday of lights, started last week and it lasts 8 days.

Since it takes place during December, retailers use it to sell gifts. So it’s sometimes called the Jewish Christmas. But Chanukah isn’t about giving gifts.

At its heart, the holiday is about lighting a menorah. It’s a special candelabra with room for 8 candles and another candle set apart from the rest. This candle lights the other candles. Each night, another candle is added until all 8 candles are filled and lit with the special candle.

Above each candle a small flame burns against the December darkness. I like to watch the candles burn down into a thin stream of smoke. For me, it’s like a set of small suns.

The menorah my husband and I use is from his mother. While it’s silver in color, it’s made of an unknown metal that never tarnishes.

I don’t like its functional design. I would buy a new one but this is one of the few things that we have from my husband’s parents. As a result, this menorah has a meaning beyond its basic design. It’s like a baby blanket that a child won’t give up no matter how tattered it gets.

From a marketing point of view, the additional meaning is important. It’s an emotional attachment that makes it difficult to sell me another menorah regardless of price.

While I never knew my mother-in-law, my guess is that this menorah was all she could afford. But that fact has no impact on my decision not to replace it.

So ask yourself:
How can you add non-monetary value to your products and services?

Why?
Because it keeps your customer from buying from a competitor.

One way to make your products and services different is to create stories about them. Since stories add an emotional element and make your products special.

 

This past week, I spent a lot of time trying to pick health insurance from the New York State of Health. For many individuals, buying health insurance is a gamble because you have guess how sick you may get next year.

And nobody wants to think they will get very sick.

Even without the possibility of getting COVID, you need health insurance in the US. Without it you risk owing a lot of money to doctors, hospitals and other medical service providers.

And you can face big bills if your health insurance company decides a service isn’t covered.

I am changing my insurance because my current provider turned down 2 large bills. Despite spending hours talking to their customer service reps, they say these services are not covered by my plan.

In addition, health insurance information and content is difficult to understand. It’s not written for customers. The language is tailored to people who work for insurance companies.

Every time I called the New York State of Health or my doctors, I got different information. So I put off making a decision until it got close to the deadline.

Buying health insurance was a lesson in marketing:
If your marketing content confuses customers they won’t buy.

Instead they put off making a decision like I did.

And if they don’t have a deadline or a reason forcing them to choose, they won’t buy at all. At a minimum, it extends the length of the sales process.

Actionable Marketing Tip:

• Test your content with customers to see if they understand it. If they don’t, find out what they don’t understand. Also, ask what other questions they have and answer those.

 

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Happy Marketing,
Heidi

P.S.: Want Heidi Cohen to contribute a quote or other commentary to your next article, presentation, video, research and/or book? Then hit reply to this email and ask.

P.P.S: Did you miss last week’s AMG Newsletter?
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FEATURED ARTICLE: Best Holiday Content Marketing

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Heidi Cohen Around The Web

► Heidi Cohen ranked at #60 on Digital Scouting’s Top 100 Digital Influencers! Big tip of my hat to Dr. Robin Kiera.

► Heidi Cohen was named one of the Top 20 Content Marketing Influencers on Twitter by SEMrush in their 2020 State of Content Marketing.

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Welcome Mat Photo via Mabel Amber https://www.pexels.com/photo/jetty-feet-sign-wooden-128299/ cc zero

The fine print: