If you’ve turned on ESPN or any other sports network the last few days, the big news coming out was Manny Machado signing a huge contract with a new team. If you’ve been on social media the last few days, then you might’ve seen this young kid give his two cents about the $300 million deal.
this kid EXTREMELY did not want Manny Machado pic.twitter.com/6oFCVgIsz5
— SNY (@SNYtv) February 19, 2019
So what did this kid teach us about marketing?
1. Creating something unforgettable
Now this doesn’t mean you have to go out there and create the next biggest or greatest invention in the world, it simply means be unique. How many elementary school kids do you know have the baseball knowledge this young fan? He was naming players left and right while wearing his Yankee gear; and just like any of the other viral video, this kid won’t be forgotten.
So how does this translate into your business?
Unique value proposition (UVP). For those unfamiliar with this, your unique value proposition is something that makes you stand out against your competitors. This could be from the smallest things like offering free shipping, or maybe you match every purchase with a donation to a charitable cause.
Amazon does a great job highlighting their UVP. Although it costs a yearly fee, Amazon prime offers 2 day shipping and their customer support has always been impeccable. When was the last time you had a problem with Amazon?
The point is, stand out and be unique!
2. “It’s like Tom Brady playing for the Dolphins”
If you’re familiar with Tom Brady, then you know he’d never play for the Dolphins. It’s like saying Tiger Woods is one of the worst golfers in the world, or Serena Williams doesn’t know how to play tennis.
That’s just outrageous!
But how do you leverage something like that for your business? Well, saying something “out of left field” (pun intended..) can become great marketing hooks.
Note, there’s a real fine line between marketing hooks and click bait (and we all know how much we hate click bait.)
Let’s use this young fan for example. Let’s say he was a sports blog writer, he could use the headline “It’s like Tom Brady playing for the Dolphins!” and then write content about how the Yankees saved money by not signing Manny Machado.
Not once would the article mislead the reader; and additionally, it would be comparing an analogy to content. At the same time, the marketing hook triggers an emotional response to whoever might be reading the headline. In this case, the emotional response is curiosity.
Just to highlight the fine line between marketing hooks and click bait… If the article was written about something completely irrelevant to Tom Brady or even sports, how do you think that would affect the content creator’s online reputation? Do you think readers would come back and trust his content? Or just see him as spam? (We’re gonna go with the latter.
The digital world, more specifically content marketing, is shifting and it’s important to think about the reader and their intent. To read more about this shift, check out this post about content marketing in 2019.
If you enjoy our daily journal, leave us a comment below! To get updated on our posts, be sure to subscribe to our weekly emails.
Go Yankees!
