“When you’re courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second,” Albert Einstein once said. “When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour.”

Time plays a critical role in how your customers view your products and services. When you’re creating marketing messaging, whether that’s website copy, social media postings, or video content, it’s important to know if your customer is in the mood to enjoy a long, leisurely date or if they’ve just sat on a cinder and need relief fast. This understanding will shape the amount of content you present as well as the way you organize it.

For example, let’s say you’re in the jewelry business. A very large part of the jewelry business is the sale of engagement rings. What does time mean to the engagement ring buyer? Not a whole lot. In fact, many brides-to-be report spending many happy hours poring over website galleries, comparing different styles and sharing their favorites with their friends via social media, especially Pinterest.

Let’s compare this experience with that of the home improvement retailer, who sells plumbing supplies. What does time mean to the buyer who needs a new shut-off valve for their home water line? EVERYTHING. This buyer has less than no time to consider all their shut-off valve options. They don’t care if the valve comes in chrome finish, brass finish, and stainless steel. They just know they need one and they need it now. Providing this customer with anything beyond absolutely essential information will slow them down and they don’t want that.

The quantity, type and arrangement of content presented to the engagement ring shopper needs to be markedly different than the quantity, type and arrangement of content presented to the shut-off valve customer. Make sure you understand how much time your customer wants to spend with you before you craft your marketing messages. Need help figuring this out? Give us a call!