The forward is by Seth Godin a renowned marketing expert. I was immediately drawn to a section of the introduction called “The Tyranny of Convenience”, which has inspired my February Morsel.
Evan Williams, a co-founder of Twitter put it this way, “Convenience decides everything”. It put my brain in gear. When we make decisions about marketing ideas or direction, should we ask this question…“If we go ahead with this, what affect does our action have on the convenience of our audience”? (My question). It seems to me this is a good measuring criteria. Convenience is a key attribute of making me buy from Amazon (for instance), because I save travel time for shopping, and I get free shipping as a Prime Member.
Convenience is not a factor, of course, if my hobby is making pottery or some other art pursuit. Or if I am a die-hard creature of habit and resist change of any kind in my life. Inconvenient actions are built into the humanity of many of us. We embrace inconvenience (like to churn your own butter? Go for it.). But people who gravitate toward the “convenient” choice decidedly outweigh those that don’t.
So, no matter where you stand on the question, my earlier recommendation stands, use “Convenience” as a guideline for marketing decisions.
And don’t forget your valentine on February 14th. If you can’t get to the store for a gift, order it on-line. It’s more convenient.
View previous monthly morsels on our Free Marketing Advice page.
