Marketing is story-telling, not the kind where you make up a fantasy world to entertain but the kind where you direct readers to learn and act on the information you provide.
Your story comes down to one thing – your message. The difficult thing many companies have is in solidifying their message across all fronts.
Too often we see one message on the website; another at trade shows and even another in the literature and collateral. While they mean well by “broadening” their reach to their clientele it sends mixed signals and never anchors a single message into your mind. In this crazy, busy environment that we live in, we are bombarded with messages every second of every day, coming from every direction. Providing a single, memorable message increases your chances of remaining in the minds of your prospects. It’s like the lyrics of a song, after hearing them several times they stick in your head and are easily recalled when you hear the song again.
Your marketing can do the same. A song is nothing more than a story put to music, your marketing can be a story put to promotion. The key is coming up with the “lyrics” that will be remembered and then finding the “melody” to keep it all together. Your lyrics are the key words and phrases used to describe your product or service. To remain memorable it’s important to stay away from industry buzz words or technical jargon. Buzz words and technical language are thrown around much too often, while they may make your message look smart, it’s not memorable. This is one reason why consumer products rely on jingles and tag lines – we remember them. How about – “the quicker picker upper” or “kills bugs dead”, “good to the last drop” and more. I’m sure I just dated myself with a few of those but all are memorable and none used industry buzz words or technical jargon, unless you want to consider “picker upper” as technical. The wording you choose does not need to rhyme or roll off the tongue with elegance, it only needs to be simple and straight to the point, conveying what your product or service is best at doing. (more next time)
