Be The Cookie: A Marketing and Sales Strategy
What's been on your plate lately besides turkey? Maybe some cookies? What's your favorite?A friend of mine loves the digital kind. She says she doesn't mind being “cookied.” As she explains, when she is looking for a rug online, she loves that internet "cookies" help her browse, sending her new possibilities, resources and deals.In simple terms (all I really know when it comes to this kind of tech), a cookie is a series of code that kicks in when you visit a site, follows you around, pays attention to what you are looking at and then feeds you more of the same on that web site, other sites and even across platforms.Most web sites now have a “cookie statement” that lets you know it is using cookies and whether you will accept all or some cookies. And we usually say yes, because we trust the site and want to use it.
HOW CAN YOU BE A MARKETING AND SALES COOKIE?
One way to serve our present clients better is to be the cookie and flip our marketing and sales mindset. Stale Cookie: “Pay attention, I want you to buy what I made or what I am selling.”Freshly Baked: “I’ve been paying attention, and I think I can offer you what you want.”How can you be the cookie for your clients?
1. ASKAsk your community -- What keeps you up at night? What challenges are you facing? What services or products will help you sleep better, do your job better or live your best life?
2. LISTENAn undervalued talent!
3. CREATEThen create those services they didn't even know they needed. And when you do that thing, be sure you tell them you did the thing through newsletters, emails, online, live video, etc. Whatever form of communication connects you to your community.
TWO EXAMPLES OF GOOD COOKIE ACTIONS
While this is not a digital cookie, it's an example of how a company acts like a cookie that you can easily adopt yourself. Recently the company gave a face to its brand. @mosseri, the casually cool head of Instagram, pops into his feed from his “garage-office.” In these videos, he tells us that Instagram has been listening to what we want and here's what they have done in response. The results include things like Creators Day, cash incentives, the Link Sticker for all users, ways to collaborate and share more with each other. Cookie takeaway: Start putting yourself or your company owner on Instagram regularly telling us what in videos giving tips on using your product or services. Here's a partial list of some changes. >> NEW INSTAGRAM FEATURES << A full list coming soon in!
VINCE
How would you like to get cold, hard cash from a brand you love? I get $50 and $100 coupons from one of my favorite clothing companies, VinceThey mail the coupons. Let that sink in ... they come in the mail! By sending printed pieces, Vince can visually and tactically convey quality. The paper the company uses feels like suede and is dark blues and camels of their brand. The coupons are good for anything, any sale, anything! They don't forget email, sending me regular emails with outfits that have been "curated for me."I know they have curated this from cookies they have gathered, but do I care? Not at all. Cookie takeaway: Understand what your top clients want and curate a special gift for them in 2022. SOME LAST COOKIE CRUMBS FOR YOU ... Cookies feed us more of what we want. How can you be a cookie for your community?
