Products and service providers work like crazy to perfect their brand. Then they hand years of hard work over to a marketer to spread the word. With so many options available, online ads, TV, billboards, why do so many companies choose face to face marketing advantages to increase customer acquisitions?
The main reason is the personal connection. Imagine your favorite restaurant or TV show, or brand of shoes. If someone asks you for a recommendation, you will jump in enthusiastically with a detailed explanation of all the benefits. In the case of the restaurant, you will describe the atmosphere of the place, the unmatched recipe for pasta, the attentive wait staff, your last fantastic meal, the fun times you had there. The other person will have the restaurant on speed dial before you have finished the hour explanation. Essentially you just acted as a face to face marketer for that restaurant.
Consumers can appreciate face to face marketing advantages through three foundational components: in-depth communication, the relationship created with the brand, trust.
According to the article, The Value of Face to Face Marketing from petergianoli.com, 40% of prospects converted to new customers via face-to-face meetings, and 28% of current businesses would be lost without them.
1- Personalized, detailed communication:
It’s true people sometimes make purchasing decisions on the fly, but usually, the consumer looks to have their questions or concerns addressed before they’re ready to commit. An online ad can’t answer those questions. Neither can a billboard or any other non-personal form of communication. The primary face to face marketing advantage is the ability to communicate directly with each customer. The marketer has a complete understanding of the product or service. They are thoroughly versed in all the benefits and ready with solutions to problems.
Learn more about Face to Face Marketing Advantages and the Power of Conversations from the video below:
Through conversation, including questions specific to the person they’re speaking with, the face to face marketer can precisely determine how they feel about the product or service, where their priorities lie. The face to face marketer will take all of the consumer’s pain points into consideration in the ensuing discussion. If there are objections, a face to face marketing advantage is the ability to drill down to the reasons behind them and find positives beyond the perceived negatives.
Another face to face marketing advantage is the sales pitch is not left at the door. The marketer understands no one wants to be sold to. However, everyone wants to be spoken to. People want to be heard and understood. They want to feel like their needs are taken care of with the product or service. To understand precisely how what they are considering will benefit them. One of the primary face to face marketing advantages is the marketer’s ability to speak directly to the customer’s needs. Instead of pushing for a sale like a billboard or an ad designed to speak to untold numbers of varied people, a face to face marketer speaks person to person. One person at a time. They are taking all aspects of that person’s situation into account. People react positively towards a brand when they feel heard. As the school of life says, “There’s almost no end to what we may be ready to do for those who pay us that immense, psychologically-redemptive honor of once in a while acknowledging what we’re feeling.”
2- A relationship created with the brand and the brand ambassador
Through the ensuing conversation, a relationship is being created both with the face-to-face marketer and the brand. The face-to-face marketing advantage is humanizing the brand through its walking, talking, smiling ambassador. The simple act of having a personalized discussion creates a human connection with both the brand and the brand ambassador. As discussed in 6 Benefits of Face-To-Face Sales from Ascenta, “Humans are wired for connection with others; we want to belong and feel appreciated. Knowing what makes every person “tick” is valuable for relationship building and closing deals.”
A face to-face marketing advantage is that the face to-face marketer doesn’t just know about the specific product they are promoting; they have in-depth knowledge about the whole industry. As a result, they can discuss the product or service from different perspectives within the context of different scenarios. Thereby they create a relationship between themselves and the potential client, and the client and the product or service. In the course of the discussion, the marketer has the opportunity to discuss a brand’s reason for being with the public. The beliefs behind the brand. What they stand for. Shared beliefs are a great relationship builder. For example, let’s say a green energy service is the promotion of the day; the face to-face marketer and the consumer can bond over a shared conviction about the importance of caring for each other and the planet.
The shared time together, the relationship created, brightens the day of everyone involved. The difference between a personalized discussion, including a possible demonstration and a positive interaction, vs. a random grab for attention online, is the difference between a client won over and a message lost in the noise.
3- Trust established:
The relationship forged through the personalized interaction between the face to face marketer and the consumer, combined with demonstrated in-depth product knowledge, works together to create the final face to face marketing advantage. Trust.
People lose trust in traditional forms of advertising after being inundated by appeals for their attention all day long through digital media platforms, browsers, TV, radio, and all manner of advertisements. They are, however, still willing to consider recommendations from existing customers or brand ambassadors.
In the process of building that trust, the face to face marketer will:
- Tailor all discussions with the customer’s needs and desires front and center
- Ensure they are asking relevant questions both regarding the customer and the product or service
- Demonstrate value
- Speak honestly at all times
- Keep all interactions positive and affirming
Choosing to take advantage of face to face marketing advantages:
The apparent advantage of face to face marketing is the in-depth communication, the relationship created with the brand, and trust. These advantages are what a personalized, face to face promotion does for a brand over an impersonal ad. Decision-makers behind products and services, large and small, local and international, are choosing to make their brands a personal choice for the public at large by getting face to face with them.
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