Emotional messages are great for simplifying your international marketing
It goes without saying that, in order to have a successful business, you need to have a product or service that your customers want to buy. However, it’s important to realise that a successful business isn’t all about having the most technically complex product. In fact, some of the most successful businesses have some of the simplest products. One reason for this could be that buyers of these products don’t get lost in lengthy, complex product descriptions. While these descriptions are an important part of selling your product, they don’t give your buyer much information about the company they are investing in.
We believe that rather than attach such importance to describing and explaining your product, and how it fits a buyer’s needs, marketers should allocate as much effort and resource as possible on telling people why you are offering it. What inspired you to offer this product? What are the emotional factors behind creating this product? What makes your take on this product unique? What are your brands ethics and goals? What is there in all of this that I can really care about? The answers to these questions show buyers that you are emotionally attached to what you do, and help them to understand why they should choose to invest in your product rather than your competitors. These emotional, human messages will easily translate into any language as your business grows internationally, with little need for adaptation or localisation.
Let’s take an example: Buyers looking for a home security system will be faced with an impossibly large choice of different products. The state-of-the-art product offering complete infrared detection with cameras covering all views of the house, a facial recognition feature and anything else you could imagine, might appeal to some people and would undoubtedly reduce your risk of a break in. However, if this system is considered alongside a more simple, yet equally competent, home security system that was created and represented by a victim of a home attack, seeking to provide others with the peace of mind and safety that they crave, who is going to win?
Straight away, these emotional and personal motives behind the second security system make it more appealing to potential customers, regardless of where they are in the world. Thinking about international markets, the features necessary for a home security system may vary; electric connections, legal considerations, attitudes to surveillance and the size and type of the average home, these could all get in the way of anyone selling on technical grounds. On the other hand, the emotional desire to protect your children at night, or safeguard your most treasured possessions- they are universal in appeal and need no real adaptation for anyone to comprehend them.
We aren’t saying that it is only simplistic, basic products that can be successful, because that isn’t true. What we are saying is that, if your product is so complex that you need to spend all of your time explaining it and aren’t getting the opportunity to tell customers why you created it, this could be where you are missing a trick. Regardless of the complexity of your product, if you can give your marketing communications a clear human message, you’ll increase your success in any market. Whilst needs and expectations can vary from country to country, affecting your product description, emotions are subject to far less change.