Digital marketing strategy from The House Of Usher

Halloween's here, you need to watch 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' on Netflix!

Without giving too much away, the story centralises around the rise and fall of a family dynasty as the heirs start to mysteriously die.

In this series is an amazing monologue from the character Roderick Usher around marketing lemons - aka. Lemonpire.

So this got me thinking about something that strikes fear into the hearts of marketers everywhere: strategy. So how can we slay this monster?

Lesson #1: Demand Generation

Usher talks about the scarcity and value of lemon’s and how this tactic will help increase their value, making them more attractive.

"Lemon is the only way to say ‘I love you,’ the must-have accessory for engagements or anniversaries."

One way of strategically driving demand is by looking at your paid campaigns. Google recently launched a new demand generation campaign type. It focuses on lead generation or purchases to help drive relevant traffic to your site, meaning you have less chance of wasting spend and more chance of boosting your ROI.

Another way is to be strategic with your content marketing. This can include:

• Blog Posts
• Videos
• Ebooks
• Infographics
• Webinars

Making sure your content provides value can drive traffic, nurture their interest and increase your brands’ authority.

Lesson #2: Leveraging Influencers and Trends

Usher goes on to list brands and celebrities that could influence people into buying your product. This heavily suggests that the power they have outweighs anything that traditional media could harness.

"Timotheé Chalamet wears lemon shoes at Cannes…Billie Eilish, ‘OMG, #lemon.’"

According to Statistica, approximately one-fourth of consumers surveyed in the United Kingdom said that social media influencers had completely or somewhat influenced their buying decisions. The importance of keeping up with trends isn’t something to be ignored. It can help across a range of aspects:

• Using trends and influencers helps increase your reach and open your service up to a potential new customer or client base.
• Being reactive to trends and current news doesn’t just help with your product or service, it also helps with your brand authority. To keep yourself relevant and topical sends the signal that your brand employs that practice in every single aspect.
• Influencers are typically skilled at creating engaging and shareable content. By partnering up, you can tap into their content creation expertise. This could really help your brand stand out across crowded digital marketing channels.

Lesson #3: Monetizing and Diversifying

Usher highlights the importance of securing your revenue streams by providing product options to help maximise profits.

"You charge 40% more for organic lemons, 50% more for conflict-free lemons."

This isn’t a new marketing strategy and a lot of research has gone into understanding psychological pricing tactics, but does it align with your business goals? Pricing structures can vary depending on the angle you want to take:

• Feature-Based Tiers: Create different pricing tiers based on the features or functionalities of your product. This approach allows customers to choose the tier that best matches their needs and budget.
• Usage-Based Tiers: Implement pricing tiers based on usage, such as the number of users, storage space, or usage frequency. This approach is common in SaaS and cloud storage services.
• Time-Based Tiers: Offer pricing tiers based on subscription lengths. Customers who commit to a longer subscription can benefit from lower per-month costs. However those who prefer flexibility can opt for the monthly plan.
• Industry-Specific Tiers: Each tier can offer industry-specific features, integrations, or support. This will help cater to the unique needs of different customer segments. 
• Customisation Tiers: Provide the option for customers to create their own pricing tier by selecting specific features or services. This approach can be appealing to businesses with unique requirements, allowing them to pay for exactly what they need without any unnecessary extras.

Not only can these options help to diversify your clients, but can also help in reducing churn, promoting upsell and increasing your revenue.

What’s the key takeaway here?

Apart from the fact that Flanagan has produced an amazing show with an astounding (if slightly cynical) view of marketing, I think it’s safe to say that strategy is the bones of any good marketing campaign. Without understanding how to drive demand, the latest social and industry trends or how to monetise your offering, how are you going to survive?