Finding the right message
How many times have you seen a flashy ad on the TV that looks great, but you can’t for the life of you remember what is was for? Or even worse, a stylish ad that leaves you completely confused as to what it was all about?
Creativity, great design and stylish imagery can all be used to enhance a message but ultimately you need to communicate with your chosen audience. Content does matter – especially for small businesses on a restricted budget.
Of course that begs the question, “What should I say?”.
The first two steps in developing a practical marketing plan are defining what makes your business unique and identifying who your most likely customers are going to be. If you know what makes your business different from the rest – and how that will benefit your chosen target customers - your marketing message is simply a way of putting the two together.
For example, if you own a retail shop that sells gifts you may have decided that the unique lines you stock are what makes you unique as a business. You’ve also decided that difference will appeal most to people who are interested in great design or in giving the prefect present to someone who’s ‘difficult to buy for’. Combining those two points will create your basic marketing message, and, the more you know about your target customers the more specific you can be in addressing it to them.
In general your draft marketing message should follow a structure like: ‘Our Shop sells gifts … we are unique because … our most likely customers are … and you should use us because of the following unique benefits …’.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue so the next stage is to create simple taglines and descriptions that can be used across a variety of media – ads, flyers, websites etc… You’ll want a one-line phase, a 2-3 line phrase and a short paragraph.
One useful tool is often to draw comparisons, directly or indirectly, with the competition or the status quo – sometimes it’s easier to explain what you are not than what you are. Carlsberg’s series of ads that suggest they ‘Don’t do’ flatmates or holidays or nightclubs, helps reinforce the message of what they do do – beer. You can also use other businesses as a useful jumping off point – Starbucks could be pitched as the “McDonald’s of coffee’ for example.
Once you’ve written a few draft marketing messages, the next step is to test them out. Ask yourself and a few choice advisors some of the following questions:
• Who is this message aimed at? Describe them.
• Does it say why should they buy from me?
• Are those reasons unique to my business or could they easily apply to anyone?
• Does it address the reader or is it all about me? (using the words you and your are usually good signs)
• Is it clear and does it make sense?
If you can tick off those points you’ll likely have a simple and useful message that you can start applying to your marketing materials and business as a whole. Just remember, your marketing message is not just the words you use to describe yourself – everything from the design of your logo to the way you answer the phone should serve to reinforce the message.
Creativity, great design and stylish imagery can all be used to enhance a message but ultimately you need to communicate with your chosen audience. Content does matter – especially for small businesses on a restricted budget.
Of course that begs the question, “What should I say?”.
The first two steps in developing a practical marketing plan are defining what makes your business unique and identifying who your most likely customers are going to be. If you know what makes your business different from the rest – and how that will benefit your chosen target customers - your marketing message is simply a way of putting the two together.
For example, if you own a retail shop that sells gifts you may have decided that the unique lines you stock are what makes you unique as a business. You’ve also decided that difference will appeal most to people who are interested in great design or in giving the prefect present to someone who’s ‘difficult to buy for’. Combining those two points will create your basic marketing message, and, the more you know about your target customers the more specific you can be in addressing it to them.
In general your draft marketing message should follow a structure like: ‘Our Shop sells gifts … we are unique because … our most likely customers are … and you should use us because of the following unique benefits …’.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue so the next stage is to create simple taglines and descriptions that can be used across a variety of media – ads, flyers, websites etc… You’ll want a one-line phase, a 2-3 line phrase and a short paragraph.
One useful tool is often to draw comparisons, directly or indirectly, with the competition or the status quo – sometimes it’s easier to explain what you are not than what you are. Carlsberg’s series of ads that suggest they ‘Don’t do’ flatmates or holidays or nightclubs, helps reinforce the message of what they do do – beer. You can also use other businesses as a useful jumping off point – Starbucks could be pitched as the “McDonald’s of coffee’ for example.
Once you’ve written a few draft marketing messages, the next step is to test them out. Ask yourself and a few choice advisors some of the following questions:
• Who is this message aimed at? Describe them.
• Does it say why should they buy from me?
• Are those reasons unique to my business or could they easily apply to anyone?
• Does it address the reader or is it all about me? (using the words you and your are usually good signs)
• Is it clear and does it make sense?
If you can tick off those points you’ll likely have a simple and useful message that you can start applying to your marketing materials and business as a whole. Just remember, your marketing message is not just the words you use to describe yourself – everything from the design of your logo to the way you answer the phone should serve to reinforce the message.
posted by Mark at Really Practical Marketing at 4:56 PM
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