Rickety architecture, unkempt lawns and trees with claw-like branches. Your typical haunted house wouldn’t look out place in a Scooby Doo episode. But despite their associations with bumps in the night, strange lights and noises, and a shady history involving violence, terror and tragedy… the houses in Scooby are really just trick fun houses with a Halloween twist.
These tricked out homes though are good models for your B2B marketing campaign.
Look at how your typical ‘haunted house’ operates. In some cases a “wind” closes the door behind the visitors, sometimes locking them inside. Creepy portraits may adorn the walls and the eyes may literally follow that person’s every move. Mirrors would reflect things that were not. The house itself may seem alive, having a mind of its own. Sometimes the setting isn’t even a house. One of the world’s scariest haunted attractions was in fact a hospital (and shows that the healthcare industry is no complete stranger to its own horror stories).
Do take note though that all tricks generally happens while the visitor independently walks about the place (sometimes it’s a fixed route and other times it’s free roaming). They may not pay attention to everything until they get a closer look. It’s the same way prospects don’t automatically approach every offer presented to them, even if the marketer sells renowned products. It is important to see that selling is a process where the actual financial transaction is the last in a series of steps that is needed to take to reach to that point. The strategies act like cues that raise awareness and even drive customer response. You need to consider several buyer types much like how horror house designers consider different types of fears to model horror experiences.
What you mustn’t forget however is that these won’t replace the proactive task of looking for prospects to view and react to these offers in the first place. Get in touch with your target medical professionals through telemarketing or email. Where horror houses are advertised through fliers, you use blogs, white papers, and generate buzz on niche social networks (yes they exist).
Just because you’re marketing to professionals doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put some effort in terms of display and appeal. It’s why marketing is often underestimated and people overestimate on a product to promote or sell itself. Like haunted houses, use presentation and cues to drive your prospects closer to their buying decision.
