hey, nice peacock
or demonstrating that you're worth a look
Male peacocks have gigantic, colorful tail feathers because it’s a signal to the ladies (peahens) that screams “I’m worth your time.”
Extravagant plumage is expensive. It signals health and vitality not because its colorful, but because it is so costly to produce that the bird with the biggest, loudest tail has to be worth investing in.
Strut your (business) stuff
There are plenty of ways to peacock in the business world, too. The longer I spend working on businesses, the more I think there’s huge value in them. Some are actually costly. Others only appear that way.
Ad campaigns (or at least persistent ones) — running ads signals that a company is doing well enough that they A) have cash to spend on things like search ads and billboards, and B) know who they serve well enough to target them with said ads. Ads can cost a ton or just a little. Either way, showing up where your customers are is always a good thing. Speaking of which…
Donations and sponsorships — probably more costly than running ads, sponsoring key events and donating to high-profile causes is a strong sign that you’re an established player. Atlassian recently announced their sponsorship of an F1 team, planting them firmly in the enterprise space. Want to really signal strength? Sponsor low-profile causes and pretend like you didn’t.
Regular product launches — This is maybe the most underutilized peacocking. Especially if you’re a small team. Regular product releases signal that you’re building a lot, you’re adding value, and that you’re to be taken seriously. Of course, the releases should be value-add, not just dark mode (yes, dark mode is valuable to many). This is the only one that lets you refresh the narrative often.
Each of these is especially great if you have the marketing machine tuned to amplify them. Pay for ads, but also post about them on LinkedIn. Sponsor events and use that as editorial, advertorial, and social material for months before and after the event.
Develop a simple playbook for each product launch and you’ll never run out of things to say on the socials.
Great products can win markets, but until you peacock about them and the world knows they exist, they never will.
Peter
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PS: Thought of another one — testimonial peacocking. Let your customers do the strutting for you.