It's in the Detail

We often hear people say 'it's all in the detail' but what exactly does this mean and is it possible that some of us we have different standards when it comes to ‘detail?’

Detail we could say is closely related to care, and when something is done with care, it is very much felt.

When we bring detail and care to the things we do, be washing a car and not skimming over the inside of the doors (yes, lots of us avoid this one), vacuuming the home and avoiding areas that are a little more difficult to get to, or skimming over a document, it always influences the end product...correct?

But before we bring detail into the marketing context, it's important here to expand on the examples given and the difference between a job done with care as opposed to a job done without.

Let's look at the car cleaning example. Is there a difference when the clean is rushed as opposed to being done thoroughly and with care? When we get back in the car do we notice a difference?

From our experience, a car that has been washed with care holds a certain quality that can felt by its driver and passengers. You can sense the care that has gone into the wash and you enjoy sitting in it. On the other hand, when the car has been skimmed over, you don't notice this quality quite so much, nor do you enjoy sitting in it as much afterwards.

So let's then take this more into the marketing arena. When it comes to creating content for our businesses or interacting with our clients and colleagues, what level of care and detail are we prepared to go to? Do we consider that what is behind our marketing can be easily felt by those who choose to be aware of it?

When we consider this it becomes clear that there is a much bigger picture at play here.

So what if we were to take it to the next level and make it about the quality of what we put out there? Detail would then become a normal behaviour or action would it not?

And so we see that a business that puts quality first, will know that even the slightest detail means a great deal. Believe it or not, and without confusing our definition here with perfectionism, detail actually brings a warmth to all that we do, and it does so through the intention it comes with.

Fine tune a social media post or any marketing material to carry with it a care for the people who will read it and you will have a document that will hold and confirm the reader. Fine tune a social media post or any marketing material to appear perfect or needing something in return, and you have a post or document that will impose on the reader. It's that simple.

So here's how Beacon does it...

1. We make sure we are marketing with integrity, and this means not putting a dollar sign, the number of leads we can get or any other ounce of recognition before the simplicity of genuine communication.

2. We keep things very real and always honest.

3. We live by the old motto ' do unto others as you would have done to you' - we consider ourselves in the receivers position. How do we like to be marketed to? and....

4. We make it a priority to keep checking in on our practices. Things change all the time, businesses evolve, we evolve, and our marketing practices evolve too.

At the end of the day, marketing is much more enjoyable and rewarding when we attend to the detail.

Anna McCormack

Founder, Beacon Marketing & Media