Marketing to Engineers
One thing that frustrates marketers is trying to sell to the analytical type, and engineers in particular. Engineers are data-driven people, and they don’t react well to trying to play on their emotions. In fact, it can often backfire. I know this first-hand, because that’s often my own reaction.
Trying to sell an analytical type a timeshare, for example, by talking about all the fun time spent with family, all the beautiful beaches and wonderful experiences will usually result in eyes rolling and that hand gesture that indicating a wish for the marketer stop droning and to get to the point. How much will it cost and what does that buy? The more you try to play on heart-strings, the lower the chance of closing the sale to an engineer. It’s counter-intuitive to how marketing is taught.
That’s the reason white papers work so well with technical products. They don’t insult the intelligence of the consumer. The call to action is implied rather than in your face, giving the consumer credit for the ability to recognize the expertise of the authors of the paper. That subtlety works with analytical types. When buying products and services from your company becomes the logical choice, that’s when you close the sale to the engineer.
This article originally appeared in my LinkedIn profile.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141002150559-6235820-marketing-to-engineers?trk=mp-reader-card