If you haven’t watched Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, it might be worth your while. It’s a playful title, much like a biography of Bernie Madoff might be, The Smartest Investor in the Room. As I watched the film, I thought, if Enron’s leadership would have simply asked themselves, “What would I want if I were a stakeholder,” they might still be alive or not behind bars.
It’s a simple question that doesn’t get asked often enough. After you’ve done your homework and you’re ready to launch your new product or ad campaign, put yourself in your customer or users’ shoes and ask: “What would I want to see when I go to a news site?” Or, “What advertisement would I click on?” It’s a simple question that most people ignore or cannot answer.
When I go to a news site, do I want to run into a ad splash page? Unless it is extremely relevant and interesting, the answer is no. Why have it then? Ah, space and eyeballs. But if I had a choice between being annoyed by a splash page or not, guess which one I’d choose?
Even for local advertisers, when you launch your TV commercial, would cheap, amateur graphics and a $2 suit make you want to buy a car, or life insurance or paint? Probably not. Though there are more factors than just one commercial in the buying decision process, unprofessional, lazy advertisements don’t necessarily work in your favor.
Consider people that do ask that question. Great inventors are constantly thinking about problems and ways of solving them. For example, Chris Pegula noticed there were not any stylish diaper bags available for dads. That hole in the market sparked the idea for DiaperDude–a lifestyle brand for stylish dads. DiaperDude has an assortment of diaper bags for fathers–ranging in prints and sizes.
By putting yourself into your customer’s shoes, you can figure out what is a turn-off or is interesting and attractive. Next time you launch a new ad campaign, would you want someone getting in the way with a splash ad? Or, would you want someone yelling at you on TV to buy a used car? Chances are the answer is, no. Ask yourself the simple question, “What would I want if I were… ?”