What is Attraction Marketing?

What is Attraction Marketing?


Attraction Marketing seems to be ‘the next big thing’ in both online and offline marketing tool kits. The obvious question is ‘What is Attraction Marketing?’ however, two better questions would be ‘Why should I care?’ and the question every entrepreneur, vendor or organisation should ask before they do anything ‘What’s in it for me?’


In order to define Attraction Marketing, it seems logical that one must first describe marketing. This, in itself, would easily fill another article – there are literally hundreds of definitions in thousands of textbooks, articles and websites. A theme common in the majority of definitions is that Marketing relates to the many forms of communication that take place between a product or service vendor and the target audience. This is quite separate from the activity of selling, which refers to the transaction where goods or services are exchanged for an agreed value – normally measured in a unit of currency. In the simplest of terms we can say that marketing is the process by which a customer can be persuaded to conduct a purchasing transaction.


If this is our working definition, what has attraction got to do with persuasion I hear you cry? Well in short not a lot and that is the key. It takes a lot of effort to persuade someone to do something or to buy something that they have not yet already decided to buy. Effort, in this instance, equates to time and money. If you do not have a limitless supply of cash, the task of persuading someone to buy your product is going to be near impossible, especially when you consider your going to be competing with some very big budget advertisers. Can you really out market Coke or Pepsi? Do you want to compete head to head with Nike or BMW? I think not!


But let’s approach this from a different angle. What if you didn’t set out to persuade anyone to buy something? What if you just let people search for you? Already this sounds cheaper and easier because your potential customers are now looking for you. And thanks to Google and the other Search Engines, consumers have an almost limitless variety of choice. This choice includes the big name mega brands and all the other not-so-big or not-so-mega brands. The Internet has, to some extent, levelled the playing field. If a potential consumer has want that is currently unsatisfied they can search for a product or service that they believe will meet their need.


And this brings us back to Attraction. It is a well cited statistic that it costs five times as much to win a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. The same must be true in the broader world of Marketing. Convincing someone that they have a need is expensive. However, persuading someone who already has a need that your product or service is better than your competitors is a much cheaper exercise. Why? Well the potential buyer has already qualified their own need; they have already convinced themselves that their need can be met. It is your job to attract them to your particular corner of the market, whether that is your Internet site, your company’s office, your shop or bar, in fact wherever you do what you do!


Attraction Marketing is the practice of allowing pre-qualified buyers to find your product offering. If, at the same time, you can show them that it meets their need and in a better way than your competitors can, you probably don’t even have to worry about the sales transaction. After all they came looking for you, it’s not like you had to sell them anything…