We’ve all heard of the 4 Ps of marketing and understand that they are very important when it comes to marketing your business, but have you heard of the 3 Es of marketing? Expertise, Education and Entertainment. The 3 Es are a modern-day twist on the 4 Ps of marketing and address what’s relevant to modern-day consumers as well as what resonates with them.
Below we explain what the 3 Es are and show you how to apply them to your marketing strategy in an effort to enhance your brand and product or service.
1. Expertise
Be the expert. Don’t just say that you are the expert, actually be one. Consumers want to buy from someone who knows what they are talking about. If they see a product or service that they like, but it’s from a brand that they don’t know yet, chances are they will be hesitant to buy from you. Why? Because your business is new and lacks credibility.
One of the ways to overcome this problem is to consistently put out thought leadership or authoritative content on social media and on your website to demonstrate to consumers that you are an expert and you know what you are doing. These pieces can be in the form of ebooks, guides, blog posts, case studies, webinars, etc.
Consumers want to look at a brand and think, yes, I know this business. They are the best at selling high-quality cookware, for example. Your business and brand should become synonymous with your category or niche.
2. Education
Educational content is a great way to educate your consumers at the top of the funnel and encourage trust in your brand. It ties into expertise as well.
A big mistake that most businesses make is assuming that all consumers are ready to buy and as a result, come across as too forward and forceful with their marketing. This approach tends to scare potential consumers (who are still investigating and deciding if they want to buy from your brand) away.
Don’t make that mistake. Rather, use a much softer approach by initially engaging potential consumers with education. Let them make up their mind as they do their own research using your content. Once they are ready to make a decision, unload your offer, but not before.
A great example of this in action is an author by the name of Donald Miller who wrote the book, Business Made. To sell his book, he could’ve just said “buy my book” and left sales to chance, but instead, he chose to write an effective hook that read, “everything you need to learn to grow a business in just 60 days”. This line works to lure readers with the promise of valuable education. And then he puts a button to “order now”.
The same works for more conventional B2B (business to business) marketing. If you own an SEO agency, offering potential customers access to an e-book that your business wrote will allow them to read more about the topic of SEO while considering your services. With no obligation to buy.
Now instead of scaring them off, you’re able to build a bit of rapport and trust. Which makes them more likely to consider you when they have made up their minds and are ready to buy. By offering them something of value, you get potential customers into the funnel and can continue to nurture them.
3. Entertainment
Entertainment can play a really important role in the growth of your brand and customer engagement, if you do it right. Posting irrelevant jokes for the sake of posting jokes, unfortunately, doesn’t do anyone any good. And on top of that, your consumers know it. They don’t want to consume content that isn’t related to your business.
Entertainment can be useful however, if it’s used properly in conjunction with education. A little sprinkling of comedy here and there can do wonders to get your consumers interested and into your sales funnel.
An email with a funny subject line paired with an educational body copy, for example, works to disarm the reader who might be wary of traditional sales emails. It also works to make the headline intriguing which makes the reader want to click it more versus a generic marketing email headline.
Entertainment, whether through amusement or intrigue helps the reader to forget that you are trying to sell them something or get them to sign up.
Entertainment works to capture readers attention before transitioning into the educational component of what you are trying to get them to do, i.e, sign up or buy.
If you need help with marketing your business effectively using the techniques discussed, contact us to find out more.
