Nowadays when I see modern cafés, I sometimes don’t realise that they are actually cafés that we all know serve food and drinks. I can’t help but see them as photography recreations. I’m not sure if this is a good sign or not, but when people go to a modern café, the first thing they will notice is whether the place is Instagrammable or not. Oh, right. “Instagrammable” is a term used to describe a place or a thing that might look good and interesting on Instagram. Back then it used to be all about food and how it tastes. Now it’s more about “vibe.” It’s more about the place and the ambience before the food, because nowadays, with the improved features on social media, many people are already turning on their video mode to record the whole place. From this, do you agree that this means a business is not only about products or services but also about first impression? For this reason, a business should work on content marketing strategy before the products. Why? Keep reading to find out!

Skills and creativity are the selling point

A bottle of mineral water in my country costs about $0.03 or anything below $1.00 normally and that’s if I buy it at the regular supermarket. However, when I go to a modern café, that same bottle of mineral water costs almost $10.00. As much annoying as it is, I won’t really blame the place for marking up the pricing because of the selling point invested in the place made by skills and creativity. People would pay for “ambience” and “views”, so a business that prioritises skills and creativity is more likely to get more attention.

Views before products

Just like what I said previously, with the more developed and improved social media feature, people are interested in showing people what they’re up to instead of what they’re buying, even though they are literally showing what they are buying. Why? That’s because appearance is what matters first before the quality. A lot of people would buy that kind of interesting ice cream with giant pink smoke enveloping the strawberry ice cream because they care about the pink smoke more than they care about the taste. They would post it on Instagram and after that? They would not even bother coming to the ice cream store again after feeding their curiosity of the products.

They are interested because it is interesting

A lot of people would buy KFC chickens because it is easy and cheap to buy instead of going to high-end restaurants that cost too much money only to eat mediocre food. However, when the food is interesting in terms of looks and the place is unique and worth showing on social media, people don’t mind spending much money for that. Okay, I have a confession to make. I love lipsticks, but I don’t really want to spend more than $50 to buy one lipstick. However, one day, when I saw this ad selling this interesting and beautiful lipstick, a transparent one with a beautiful flower attached inside the lipstick, even though I knew for a fact that I don’t do well with transparent lipsticks, I bought it eventually. It cost about $25. Normally, I don’t even want to spend even a $5 for that kind of lipstick, but for this interesting design? I bought it, posted it on Instagram and yeah well, it stays inside my old purse until now without me actually using it. I know it sounds absurd and stupid, but that is the power of skills and creativity.

With this article, I am not saying that you shouldn’t focus on your product’s quality. What I’m saying is that it is all about designing and planning for the product as a whole, starting from the making, the marketing and the outcomes. As an example, Shu Uemura did this approach well with their lipsticks. They are actually selling the same kind of lipsticks, but they are using a different “face” for their lipstick packaging design and giving it a different touch of name for a new limited series: Rouge Unlimited La Maison du Chocolat Collection. This simple method of selling skills and creativity can actually be done anytime you feel like you’re brimming with ideas. You don’t have to have new products, you don’t have to rename your brand, and you don’t have to create new business either. In fact, you can use your old products and make it seem like it’s brand new. You can use your creativity and skills for the marketing part as well and it doesn’t have to be products. Basically, if you want to sell your skills and creativity, you can apply this on anything that can shape your business. Remember that a business is not all about products; it is also about branding and marketing strategy. With this in mind, you can help your own business grow in a better way.