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‘Cut through the noise’ means to communicate in a way that garners attention. The ‘noise’ in this phrase refers to all the promotions and advertising in today’s marketplace, as defined by Quora. Cutting through the noise will allow you to attract the right people to your brand, business, profile and website. Remember: it’s not a ‘spray and pray’ mentality. Yes, you want to cut through the noise, but you want to cut through the noise and attract the right people.
To put things into perspective, digest the following:
- As of June 2019, there were over 4.5 billion internet users in the world
- 80% of online content is available in just one-tenth of all languages
- Google handles 1.2 trillion searches every year
- YouTube had 4.5 million videos viewed every minute
- in 2019 and 500 hours of video uploaded
- Every 24 hours, 500 million tweets are posted on Twitter
- 2.1 million snaps were created in 2019 on Snapchat
- LinkedIn has 260 million monthly active users
- Content on LinkedIn receives about 9 billion
- impressions per week
- More than 347,222 users were scrolling Instagram
- every 60 seconds in 2019
- By 2025, there will be 75 billion IoT devices
The above stats should frame just how much noise we’re exposed to through the various channels available to us, and how we’re consuming that content.
In the B2B world, buyers are dealing with a bombardment of marketing messages that they don’t care about. Again, look at things from your perspective - how does the following make you feel?
- Auto playing online video advertisements
- Telemarketing calls
- Pop up online advertisements
- Direct mails, adverts or promotional mailers
Do you express a dislike for the above? So will your audience, because it’s intrusive. That approach is dated and now that the power lies with the customer, they can skip through your ads at the click of a button.
But you can stand out from the crowd without being intrusive - it’s about being remarkable. I’m sure you’re aware of Purple Cow (see image below) and its author Seth Godin. It’s a great book that focuses on how you, your brand and your business needs to stand out from the crowd and be ‘remarkable.’ I love the analogy of the purple cow, but being remarkable isn’t enough. As a marketer, I’m in the growth business, and for that to happen I need to deliver sales.
To be remarkable, I need to make meaningful content for my audience - but how do I do this?
Personalised marketing
I’m not talking about standard personalisation like the first name on an email. I’m talking about understanding your audience and talking to them on their terms. You’re not marketing to the masses but focused on your ideal customers. Those targets are not only high value, but ones you know would benefit from your service offering. You need to take the time to understand your audience on a whole new level, particularly their behaviour.
Ask yourself...
- What gets them up in the morning?
- What challenges do they face on a daily basis?
- What keeps them awake at night?
- What digital channels do they live on?
- How active are they online?
- What content are they consuming?
- Are they part of any groups or associations?
...are you with me?
You really need to invest the time to understand your audience so you can create realistic buyer personas.
Next, how are you going to communicate with your audience? Remember we are trying to cut through the noise and be remarkable, so, for me it’s about resonating with your audience.
Talk to them on their terms, offer them insight and value in a form of communication they want. But don’t stop there: make sure it’s in a tone of voice they like and in a format that’s suit- able. This could be a blog, webinar, podcast or even a video brochure. The key is to focus on resonating with your audience. You’ve taken the time to understand them so you can talk to them on their level and in return be informative and insightful, which results in a positive experience. It’s then your job to make sure this experience continues with every touchpoint and interaction so you can build trust.
This is a snippet from my book, “Being Human: How to Sell in a Digital World”, which is available via Amazon. I hope you found this of use.
Still need some guidance? That’s what I’m here for. I’m always happy to have virtual coffees to offer my advice and support.
