Internet Marketing Blog

What Alec Baldwin Taught Me about Online Marketing

May 6, 2008 – 12:26 pm

Enjoy these great online marketing techniques and social marketing tactics by famous movie star - Alec Baldwin!!!

Many would argue that it is the greatest 7 minutes in the history of cinema. It is certainly one of the finest speeches ever documented on film. In the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin plays role of Blake, a super-salesman who was sent to motivate 3 underperforming real estate salesmen. Blake’s profanity laden speech is far from your typical motivational speech, but it taught me everything I need to know about online marketing.

Baldwin begins his speech by telling the sales people to stop complaining about the leads they have blown. He places the blame for their lack of success squarely on their shoulders, and says the customers are just waiting to buy their product but they don’t know how to sell it. To quote Baldwin, “A customer doesn’t walk on the lot (or your website) lest he wants to buy.” Baldwin then launches into the ABC’s of sales.

• Always
• Be
• Closing

If you want to compete in the ever expanding online market, your internet marketing needs to be targeted at closing the sale. You need to “always be closing.” Let the customer know why they need your product, and make it easy for them to buy it. Don’t make your customer jump through 20 hoops just to find the checkout page. If you aren’t always closing the sale, your potential customer will leave your website for one of your competitors.

The egomaniac Blake continues his speech on selling by telling the sales people about “AIDA.” This is another sales abbreviation that we can apply to SEM. Sure, a lot goes into carrying out a successful online advertising campaign, but Baldwin really sums it all up on his little chalkboard.

• Attention- The first thing you need to focus on is getting your customer’s attention. If you do not get their attention, they will not give your business the time of day. The internet is full of companies vying for users’ attention so you need to separate yourself from the competition. You can do this by creating compelling headlines, good descriptions, gripping PPC ads, and quality content
• Interest- After you get the customer’s attention, you need to make sure they are interested in your product. If they are not interested, the customer will walk away. This is where creating persuasive content comes into play. You need to convince the customer that they have a big problem, and that you are the only one that can solve that problem.
• Decision- Now that you have piqued the customer’s interest, you need to help them make the decision. As I mentioned before, you need to tell them they have a problem, and now they must decide that they want to fix it. Customers are more cautious buying products online than in person, so to help them make the decision you should let them know they can trust you. In other words, don’t be gimmicky and make promises that sound too good to be true. Just make your case in a convincing, but logical, manner.
• Action- If you have accomplished the above steps, now you have to get your customer to take action. In the online market, this is what it all comes down to. Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of online marketing has heard the term “call to action.” It’s not enough to convince your customers they should think about buying your product; you must persuade them into buying your product right now. You need to make it easy for your customers to take action. It should be just one simple step to purchase an item, no more.

So, if you haven’t been following these steps, put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers only!