A Marketing Lesson, With Love From Gaston
If you want to know how to lose customers, take a lesson from Beauty and the Beast’s Gaston.
Gaston is the quintessential man. He’s the man every man wants to be but can never quite measure up to. His own song says as much…
“No one's slick as Gaston
No one's quick as Gaston
No one's neck’s as incredibly thick as Gaston
For there's no man in town half as manly…”
The song goes on and on, but you get the point.
And I’ll bet your business is a lot like Gaston, in that you’re the best at what you do and none of your competitors can quite measure up to you!
But if Gaston is really the best, why do audiences around the world detest him so much?
Because every time he engages with people, he only talks about himself.
Here is where we come back to psychology. Our human nature is programmed to care the most about ourselves, care a lot about those we love, care a little about people we don’t know, and hardly care at all about inanimate objects like a business.
So why does our marketing so often sound like an awkward version of Gaston’s song that screams to listeners: “look at us, we are the best, we are desperate to do business with you!”?
It’s not a good look.
If we want to win the hearts of our customers, we must not only entertain them but connect with them on a personal level. We do this by talking about what they care about most, namely, themselves.
You may contest, “But telling potential customers about my business services or product is caring about them, because they need it!”
If that’s true, they don’t seem to think so. They’ve gotten along this far without you, so you come off as just another pesky company begging for their attention, singing your self-aggrandizing ballad.
Spoiler Alert… Gaston doesn’t get the girl, and you likely won’t get the customer if you take his same approach.
Your marketing should connect with your prospects emotionally, and tell a story that your customer sees him or herself in. Be authentic and give them the opportunity to be drawn to the heart of your business.
Then, once you have won their business, care for them and prioritize their happiness, as every man of character would.