FEAR, HOPE, AND LOVE

Which Lever Works Best for Your Business?

These three words are considered to be the “Three Marketing Levers.”

In trying to understand how these three words play in the life of a small business I decided that of the three, Hope was the one best suited for my own marketing efforts. I sell a service which helps my clients bring their Hope for a better future to reality. That translates to my communicating the benefits that I provide so that they can be seen as the answer to their desires for a better business future. To me the best seller of Hope is the lottery; everyone is hoping for a big pay day with very little chance of ever making it happen.

Further research showed me that Fear was a better selling point for many businesses. “If you don’t use my products/services, something bad may happen to you. I classify dentist and doctors as selling Fear to some degree. I also add many politicians to this category: “if you don’t vote for me, the following will happen.” I have a very successful small business client that selected Fear as his main marketing message. He doesn’t talk about the benefits as much as the possible bad things that may happen if you don’t use his products.

Using Love as your marketing lever requires the giving of Love before receiving it from your customers. I believe that Apple is an example of a company that has built a Love relationship with their base. More common examples of using Love are the jewelry stores and the expensive perfume sellers.

Each small business owner has to look within himself and the profile of his target market to decide which of these three marketing levers will work the best. In my opinion it’s a mistake to try and use all three, or even two of these levers in a marketing program. Select one and build all your marketing efforts around it.

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Tips & Advice by Nick Petra, CFP – Founder of Strategic Duck and BizQuack