Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype
by Jay Baer
Youtility is something entirely different. It requires companies to intentionally promote less at the point of consumer interaction, and in so doing build trust capital that will be redeemed down the road. “Well, the reality is that our best customers are the people that think they can do it themselves,” he said. “And the other thing you have to realize is that eventually everybody is going to be out of their depth. They won’t be able to do it themselves, and at that point whom are they going to call? Somebody randomly out of a phone book, or are they going to call Geek Squad, whose videos they’ve been watching over and over for six, eight, ten, twelve minutes with our logo in the corner?”
Youtility is something entirely different. It requires companies to intentionally promote less at the point of consumer interaction, and in so doing build trust capital that will be redeemed down the road.
To win the zero moment of truth, you need to fight the war of information on home turf. One way to do that is through the provision (or facilitation) of self-serve information. But there’s another way that’s perhaps less self-serve, but equally useful—answering every single question your prospects might conceivably have.
To succeed, your prospective customers must consider you a friend. And if, like their friends, you provide them real value, if you practice Youtility rather than simply offer a series of coupons and come-ons, they will reward your company with loyalty and advocacy, the same ways we reward our friends.
Five years ago, if you had asked me and my business partners what we do, the answer would have been simple: “We build in-ground fiberglass swimming pools.” Now we say: “We are the best teachers in the world on the subject of fiberglass swimming pools, and we happen to build them as well.”
Smart companies understand that providing self-serve information and giving consumers the opportunity to find answers for themselves, without being burdened by personal, synchronous communication, isn’t shirking their duty as marketers; it’s become their duty as marketers.
"Youtility is something entirely different. It requires companies to intentionally promote less at the point of consumer interaction, and in so doing build trust capital that will be redeemed down the road."
"“Well, the reality is that our best customers are the people that think they can do it themselves,” he said. “And the other thing you have to realize is that eventually everybody is going to be out of their depth. They won’t be able to do it themselves, and at that point whom are they going to call? Somebody randomly out of a phone book, or are they going to call Geek Squad, whose videos they’ve been watching over and over for six, eight, ten, twelve minutes with our logo in the corner?”"
"The excellent online presentation “From Content to Customer” (ar.gy/content2customer), published in 2011 by the marketing automation software company Eloqua, divides the prospective customer pool into three distinct groups: Suspects, Prospects, Leads, and Opportunities, and suggests that certain information packages are more likely to be consumed by each, especially in a business-to-business scenario."
"To win the zero moment of truth, you need to fight the war of information on home turf. One way to do that is through the provision (or facilitation) of self-serve information. But there’s another way that’s perhaps less self-serve, but equally useful—answering every single question your prospects might conceivably have."
"To succeed, your prospective customers must consider you a friend. And if, like their friends, you provide them real value, if you practice Youtility rather than simply offer a series of coupons and come-ons, they will reward your company with loyalty and advocacy, the same ways we reward our friends."
"Five years ago, if you had asked me and my business partners what we do, the answer would have been simple: “We build in-ground fiberglass swimming pools.” Now we say: “We are the best teachers in the world on the subject of fiberglass swimming pools, and we happen to build them as well.”"
"Smart companies understand that providing self-serve information and giving consumers the opportunity to find answers for themselves, without being burdened by personal, synchronous communication, isn’t shirking their duty as marketers; it’s become their duty as marketers."
- →Youtility is something entirely different. It requires companies to intentionally promote less at the point of consumer interaction, and in so doing build trust capital that will be redeemed down the road.
- →To win the zero moment of truth, you need to fight the war of information on home turf. One way to do that is through the provision (or facilitation) of self-serve information. But there’s another way that’s perhaps less self-serve, but equally useful—answering every single question your prospects might conceivably have.
- →Five years ago, if you had asked me and my business partners what we do, the answer would have been simple: “We build in-ground fiberglass swimming pools.” Now we say: “We are the best teachers in the world on the subject of fiberglass swimming pools, and we happen to build them as well.”
- →Smart companies understand that providing self-serve information and giving consumers the opportunity to find answers for themselves, without being burdened by personal, synchronous communication, isn’t shirking their duty as marketers; it’s become their duty as marketers.
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