Why Don't Advertisers Put Customers First?

  Hey, technology marketers. It's not about you and it never will be. If customers come first, why are so many of you putting them last? Scan the ads in magazines like Baseline or InformationWeek and you'll see plenty of copy that puts the advertiser first, the customer second. 

Case in point:

"Raritan is broadening its portfolio to include a range of service management solutions, plus a broader array of next-generation KVM and serial console solutions to help you simplify your IT operations."

If Raritan helps you simplify your operations, why not put you first? It's a problem that Raritan can easily solve by starting with "IT managers are simplifying their operations with solutions from Raritan that ......" 

You get the idea.

Take a look at your own ad copy, and it's likely the benefit you provide customers is buried somewhere at the end. Even savvy Intel violates this rule with its vPro ads. After going on and on about them, they finally get to their customer. Here's how Intel tees up its vPro story in an full-page ad that often appears in Baseline.

"It's the most exciting leap in business desktop computing since the Intel Pentium processor. The new Intel vPro technology is much more than just a new processor. It's a remarkable combination of new technology that is optimized for business. Repetitive tasks are made some simple and more efficient."

Ego-centric marketers feel they have to make it about them, because it's about their company and their products. After all, their company is paying them, so it needs to be about them, right?

Wrong. Because, it's the customer that's really paying your salary.

So remember, marketing is never about you, and it never will be.