One of the “gotchas” for businesses compiling their marketing materials is the:
“Aren’t We Clever” trap.
Here’s how it works. Your business is built on your knowledge and experience. Your clients lack the time, skills and experience to do the work that you do. They rely on you to supply services or to trawl the market and sift out the worthwhile products that you make available to your customers.
So, because your customers are buying from you because you are better at something than they are, you fall into the trap of trying to prove how clever you are in all your marketing materials. You present a plethora of ideas and concepts that make perfect sense to you – and to your most loyal repeat customers.
Audience First
Whenever you sit down to write marketing materials for your business – whether it is for the web, for a printed brochure, a proper letter or an email to a prospect – start by considering things from the perspective of your reader. What does he/ she WANT (not what they need – you can get to that later – what do they WANT)? Write your text and construct your block diagrams so that the concepts are simple and uncluttered. Make sure that your audience will understand the text that you produce – which may mean leaving out some of the techno-babble.
Text
Next time you have to wait somewhere that provides a daily paper, ignore the broadsheets and pick up the Sun. Take a look at the style they use. You might disagree with the content. I hope you will agree that it is quick and easy to read and to understand. That is what you are aiming for in your marketing and sales text. If an eight year old can understand it, your prospects will understand it in the time that they are prepared to devote to a first reading.
Diagrams
Really simple block diagrams can often clarify a complex offer and help your audience to quickly digest the information and to understand enough about your offer to form their own opinion.
Complex, hard to read, graphics which take several minutes to understand are fine when you get to the technical conversation further down the sales cycle. At the front end of the sales cycle, simple works best.
What to Do
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Go back to your marketing materials and apply the audience test. Will your target audience understand things in 30 seconds without re-reading things three times?
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Are you sure?
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Have you asked a non-involved / non-technical person to check?
This was a guest post by Paul Fileman of Results-Zone. Results-Zone bring extensive knowledge and experience gained in Blue Chip organisations to businesses like yours. They ensure that your business is fully exploiting a well thought through operating plan. They work alongside you and your team – as business results managers. They ensure that your team and your business are elevated to the results-zone. They bring you “hands-on” experience – similar to employing high quality management skills without the risk or costs in recruiting full time employees.
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