When Harry Met Sally

Everyone has a friend like that. You see them all the time and yet when you need them they are not available. Not contactable. Not there.

Seen it? When Harry Met Sally ?

Seen the classic romcom, When Harry Met Sally?  Sally is the one with the heartbreaks. And Harry is her friend. Her best friend. Fun friend. Confidante. BFF. The shoulder she cries on. Why? Because he is there. Always there for her. There when she needs him to be there. Content marketing is somewhat like that – being a Harry to the Sally in the customer. Being there when they need you.

If you want to establish a relationship with your customer, remember you need to be there. Not when you want to be. But when they need you. That’s the thing that about content – it’s out there for anyone to access anytime. Anytime is the key word here. Because you never know when your potential customer is going to look for the content you’ve so cleverly put out there.

At the risk of repeating myself, let me share one of my favourite quotes from Jeremy Bullmore:
“People build brands as birds build nests, from scraps and straws we chance upon.”

When Harry met Sally. Again.

Much later, Bullmore debunked his own statement. Well, not debunked it, I would say, but elaborated on it. He said that the scraps and straws that people pick up about a brand are not there by chance. They are the ones that have been cleverly put in their way. Or else they are in places that people know of. The Harry for the Sally! Which means, every brand should have a place where people can go if they want to know more. And that could be anything related to the brand but not the brand itself. Again, that place is about solving a customer’s problem not selling your wares.

And how do you get them there?

Consistency. The third C you need to have! If you’ve missed the first two posts in this series the links are below.

Here’s an everyday example. The Amul hoarding. The first one with the chubby little utterly butterly adorable girl came up (hold your breath) in 1966! The Amul hoarding is even today a one liner on the state of affairs in the country. For years, in Mumbai, the Amul hoarding spot also did not change. And during a period when there was shortage of butter due to the 1971 war, the hoardings kept going up relentlessly. That’s consistency.

That’s what you need to do. Relentlessly posting on issues that plague the customer. Trying to figure out what keeps him or her awake at night. Looking for what they are looking for (that’s SEO for you) and answering unanswered questions. Covering every possible base: not necessarily with long treatises but even with short pithy insights or statements. The trick is to be there when they need you. To be there at home when they come knocking on your door. To answer their questions no matter how trivial. Because when the time comes to make a decision, guess where the customer will go – to a trusted friend who’s been there all the time. And why? Simply because he’s there! Consistently!

So be there. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. For decades if possible. Like Amul.

Be the bestie. Be the BBF. Be the Harry.
And Sally is sure to show up at your door!

Here’s the link to #2 Clarity: How clear is your vision?

And this is the link to #1 Content: Content with your content?

And if you want to know more about how we can help, simply write to vaishakhi@abacusyellow.com.