HOW SNOW IS RELEVANT

I love The Weather Channel, and as I was watching it this weekend, I was reminded of the critical marketing concept of relevancy. You see, we were getting ready for a major snow storm here in the Northeast, and so we watched The Weather Channel with deep interest. I love snow, so I was annoying my husband by saying, “Go back to The Weather Channel so we can see how much snow we are going to get.” Every 10 minutes, they give a local broadcast to tell you what the weather in your area would be; people who watch The Weather Channel know that’s where you turn for weather “on the eight’s.”

So what does this have to do with marketing? Relevancy. People in California don’t watch The Weather Channel because, of course, there is not usually any weather. If it was a 70-something degrees today, it is going to be 70-something degrees tomorrow. It is pleasant every day. Now, I can hear all you Californians arguing that California does have seasons — the Brush Fire Season, the Earthquake Season and the Mud Slide Season — but in general, there is not a lot of California weather to report. But in the rest of the world, the weather does change, and you do need to know what it is going to be like so that you can dress and plan appropriately.

“Weather on the Eight’s” is the ultimate in relevancy: information that affects MY life. In your business, you need to get to that level of detail and intimacy with your customers. If you can relate the information, products and services that you have to a person’s personal life — what is involved in their life — you will be successful, and you will be able to sell anything you want because you have proved your relevancy to their lives.