On July 30, 2016, daredevil Luke Aikins jumped out of an airplane 25,000 feet above Simi Valley, California. This is not all that unusual because Aikins jumps hundreds of times each year. In fact, he trains people to jump. He has been doing it since he was 12 years old. However, this jump was unique because it was done without a parachute! What did he do to stop his fall? He landed in a mesh net that measured 100’ square.

Aikins’ stunt drew quite a crowd. It was part of a TV special and was filmed by a crew that jumped with him (with parachutes) and another that filmed from the ground. You can understand the fascination. No one had ever done this before. Among the live audience were Luke’s wife, Monica, and his four-year-old son. However, as Aikins landed in the net and made his way to the cheering crowd, he found that his son had slept through the entire event!

Do you feel like your marketing is like jumping out of an airplane? The first phase of marketing is always to attract the attention of the consumer to your brand. There has been a multitude of marketing stunts to keep people tuned into a brand. (You would not be surprised to find that Aikins is sponsored by Red Bull.) Are you looking for ways to hold the attention of your customers? Here are some common mistakes I see business leaders make with their marketing.

Losing your nerve

Aikins had a team of people who spent two years planning his free-fall event. That involved testing the nets to make sure they could catch and hold a man traveling up to 120 mph. However, there are a lot of things that could go wrong (like blowing off course and missing the net!) At the very last minute, someone in leadership insisted Atkins wear a parachute in his jump. He refused and said he would not do the jump. The leaders relented and he jumped without the parachute. Marketing that edgy can cause leaders to lose their nerve. There are plenty of problems if brand marketing steps over the line with a customer. Too often, leadership can pull the rip cord on the marketing parachute before you jump out of the airplane, just to be safe. This is where knowing your target market is so important. How will they react to your marketing edge? Will they marvel at it or think it is in bad taste? If you understand your customers well, you will know where the line of amazement ends and disgust begins. Pay close attention.

Giving up on marketing too early

Getting someone’s attention is one thing, selling them is another. Too often I find that leaders are looking for instant sales from one stunt – that people will start buying as soon as the first piece of marketing meets their eyes. People don’t typically buy instantly. Marketing is not a one-time event, it takes repetition, integration into multiple mediums and time to work. I mentioned that the first phase of marketing was to draw attention to your brand. The next phase is to give them a reason to buy your brand. To do this, you have to make a compelling case for why they need your brand and make it easy for them to try it. That means giving them a clear action to say yes to the brand. After you get them to try your brand, the next phase is to retain them as customers. You need to market to them to secure their brand loyalty so they keep coming back to you again and again.

Misreading your target audience

Sometimes you can miss the mark with your customers. There have been very creative ideas that flopped with consumers. Why is that? Sometimes we are dealing with short attention spans. Sometimes what you are trying has grown a bit stale and they have seen it all before. However, there are times when we make the mistake that what we are passionate about in business is the same for the people who buy from us. That typically is not true. Sometimes, they just don’t care. Aikins jumped out of a plane without a parachute and his four-year-old slept through it! Clearly jumping from planes was not all that fascinating to the toddler. I was talking with an engineer recently who deals with battery technology in his line of work. He was telling me all of the things you have to consider when you are dealing with batteries. He was passionate about it, but I was not. I am a consumer of batteries. Do you know what I want? A battery that works for a long time so I don’t have to change them often – period! Always market to the needs of your target audience. I just bought batteries today that said they will last five years. Sold!

Your marketing has to catch the attention of the consumers you are trying to sell. It has to be interesting enough to do so, so get the plane off the ground, open the hatch and jump. But after it gets to the ground, don’t forget marketing also has to give consumers a compelling reason to give it a try and continue buying your brand. Happy landings!

__________________

Photo by Mauricio Graiki

Daredevil skydiver becomes first person to complete 25,000ft leap without a parachute, by Jamie Micklethwaite, Evening Standard, July 31,2016,