Why the News is so important to Smart Marketers

Smart Marketers can leverage the days news to become a core feature of their next Smart Marketing campaign.

How many of you start the day with breakfast and the News? Whether you consume it online, on the TV, from a newspaper or the radio in the car on the way to work you are being supplied with Smart Marketing opportunities. Mostly you probably ignore the news you receive unless you find the story really resonates with you, likely because you have a hundred other thoughts running through your head and are already trying to get geared up for your work day.

However, the daily news can actually be the source for your next Smart Marketing campaign. Knowing how to tie those back to your product and which stories are likely to grab the eyeballs and attention of your potential customer is the Smart part.  Take a look at the headlines today and think of them as potential sources for a campaign, which ones would appeal to your audience?  Here is a fun example I came across:

The Simpsons aired an episode on August 1st in which they followed up on a previous “dream” episode from 1995, in which Lisa Simpson meets her future husband. One Etsy vendor tied the story to a pair of Piggy Cufflinks, exactly like those in the episode that they were offering for sale.  While not the most obvious connection, it’s definitely Smart Marketing, after all if you knew someone who was a Simpson’s fan and they were getting married soon (we are in wedding season after all), then why not get them a pair?

The Etsy vendor knows their audience, they know what they are doing right now (thinking about weddings) and they know that people who buy from Etsy are more likely to be looking for something that is unique and personal rather than mass produced. That is Smart Marketing. Of course it takes work to plow through the headlines and pick that one story that works for your audience, but so does trying to think of a quick campaign from scratch. Even the down stories can be used to your advantage, though of course those take a little extra careful thought.

What news story could be your next Smart Marketing campaign?