Embracing Conflict in Marketing
Last week, I posted about marketing teams embracing storytelling (and storytellers) as a way to cut through the voluminous noise we see flooding every social channel. I posted a list of the parts of a story, hoping that we could talk through just what exactly storytelling is and how if we truly embrace it in all its glory, it could lead to a true change in the way marketing is conceived and discussed.
This week, we’re going to talk about the second element of a good story, conflict. As marketers - and especially as sales people - our goal is to reduce conflict or friction. We want the entire process to be as easy as possible so potential customers will believe making a change (major or minor) will be easy.
However, change is never easy - millions of unfulfilled new year’s resolutions can’t be wrong. And a story cannot exist without conflict. There has to be something that everyone wants and a reason why they can’t get it. Plus, we know that the reason a customer is speaking with us or considering a product or service is because they’re already experiencing some type of discomfort. There’s a reason they’re checking to see how green the grass is on the other side of the fence.
So, we need to embrace conflict. But the conflict must be authentic. It can’t be manufactured. Readers (and potential customers) aren’t stupid. They’ll see a manufactured conflict in a millisecond - we have to give them credit.
It’s Time to Talk about Conflict
Here’s what I think marketers (and sales) get wrong about conflict. We don’t need to reduce all conflict, we need to reduce internal conflict (some people might call it anxiety). We need to make the decision to choose our product or service an easy one, meaning it’s not going to send the entire organization into a tailspin if our point of contact chooses to go with us and forces change.
External conflict, that’s where we want to ramp it up. The conflict tension must come for outside sources. We have to illustrate just how simple a choice they’re making because objectively, our product or service is better. What does this look like?
Showing them that everyone else is doing it.
A little peer pressure goes a long way. By illustrating the success other businesses are having, it can ramp up the tension (and the conflict) for our POC. Why should XYZ business be making (or saving) more money than us? This often looks like case studies, interviews and social media evangelist posts (sponsored or not).
Honing in on their particular problem and getting specific in your approach.
The one great benefit of conflict is that it can help you get more specific with your message. This specificity will help the person understand exactly what you can do for THEM, not for everybody in their space. That type of individualized problem-solver will make them feel much more assured in their decision.
What are some other ways we can ramp up external tension when telling our marketing story? Are there any techniques you’ve tried that worked? I’d love to know!
