Don Draper is wildly out of control, ahead of his time and a marketing genius in the hit AMC show set in the ad world of the 1960s. He might be dismayed at the complete lack of cigarettes in the office these days, but he would certainly be on top of content marketing. It’s time to apply the Don Draper magic to your own strategies:
“There is an answer that will open the door. There is a way around this system. This is a test of our patience and commitment. One great idea can win someone over.”
Yes, it’s hard to get attention these days. And, yes, there is an overwhelming stream of companies posting on social media and creating websites to pop up in search engines. But, creative content solutions can help you get to the top. It does take patience and commitment. Customers will only be attracted to your site if you put in the work to create valuable content and the time to post regularly. Reliable and continuous content is how you win someone over, moving them from new lead status to conversion.
“The day you sign a client is the day you start losing him.”
Once you’ve accomplished conversion, your job is far from over. It is those first few days and months that your customer is still evaluating the purchase process. How easy and fast is it to receive the order or service? How much support is available if they have problems or questions? What kind of an email marketing campaign is set up to encourage your customers to remain loyal to your brand? If the Mad Men of AMC did anything well, it was woo their clients. Remember, post-conversion marketing is just as important as drawing in new leads. When you’ve already done the work of getting new leads to convert, you need to capitalize by retaining loyalty.
“If you don’t like what is being said, then change the conversation.”
Your brand reputation is everything. If you don’t have ears on the conversation, then you really need to look into social listening. If you are hearing things about your brand, employees or products that you don’t like, then you need to get the conversation to change. Remember, it is not the negative comments that will kill your brand, it is the poor, slow, sluggish or irresponsible response to problems that will kill your brand. Word-of-mouth recommendations are the most powerful tool in marketing, both to help and hurt your brand. Make sure you are actively guiding the conversation in a healthy direction.
“Just think about it. Deeply. Then forget it. And an idea will jump up in your face.”
Deeply might be the key word here. Good content doesn’t just appear out of thin air. You have to really think about what your clients need and what customers are looking for. Remember all of the ideas thrown out by Draper and his team as they looked for the perfect pitch. They did this daily, and so should you. Don’t get in a rush and post mediocre content.
“That’s how this works. I pay you for ideas.”
Draper realized he had much more talent than mere idea creation. As the professional leader, he oversaw content creation and pitched ideas to clients. In the same way, marketing professionals can hire content creators and press release writers to do the busywork for them. Draper realized that his talents were better used in the tasks no one else could do, like drinking an Old Fashioned and making campaigns come alive right in front of the client’s eyes with passion and insight like no one else.
Writer Bio: Alethea M is a corporate blogging guru and freelance writer for WriterAccess. She loves pulling out interesting facts from article research to impress friends at dinner parties.
