everything starts with message
TRANSCRIPT
EVERYTHING STARTS WITH
MESSAGE Position your company to connect with your customers
Presented by Kathy Dorff, Lexicon Content Marketing
You’re marketing your company. What do you do
FIRST? 1.
How hard could it be?
Develop a primary marketing message.
Meet ABC Widgets
“We make great widgets, and you
should buy them.”
Er … not so fast.
Simple, right?
WHAT YOUR
MESSAGE IS NOT
• A slogan
• A laundry list of what you do
• Your mission statement
WHAT YOUR
MESSAGE IS
The foundation of your marketing program (even though it’s just a few words)
Consistent messaging increases your brand value
Why it’s so important
YOUR MESSAGE
MUST
• Grab attention
• Provide information
• Offer a USP (unique selling point)
• Solve a need
• Establish trust
ABC Widgets’ second try
• “Handcrafted widgets designed to your specs.”
• “Offering the most affordable custom-designed widgets on the market.”
• ”Your custom specs. Our handcrafted widgets. The perfect pairing since 1977.”
“We make great widgets, so buy them.”
7 STEPS TO GREAT MARKETING MESSAGES
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Who is your customer?
1.
• Industry • Company size • Geographic location • Demographics • Job title
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Describe your customer
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Describe your customers’ pain points
• Work flow • Production goals • Budget • Time frame • Lack of trust
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
How to uncover their pain points
• Current customer survey • Input from sales and other SMEs • LinkedIn Pulse posts, industry blogs • Industry news • Focus groups • Published surveys, stats
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Develop a primary persona � or several,
if you sell to different segments
• Purchasing managers • Mid-size equipment manufacturer • HQ in Iowa; Midwestern sales footprint • Seasonal push in early spring
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
ABC Widgets’ customer persona
Consistent messaging increases your brand value
Why it’s so important
KNOW YOUR BRAND
It’s the customers’ expectation of their experience with you
Brand is more than a logo
2.
KNOW YOUR BRAND
What responses do these brands elicit?
• What do you stand for? • What defines your company? • What promises do you make to your customers? • What is your company doing right? • What could your company be doing better?
KNOW YOUR BRAND
From your perspective:
KNOW YOUR BRAND
From your customers’ perspective:
• What’s your reputation with them? • What do they expect from you? • What visual, verbal, emotional responses does your brand elicit? • Is their experience with you consistent?
KNOW YOUR COMPETITION 3.ABC Widgets:
Handcrafted widgets designed to your specs
Midwest Widgets: The most affordable
widgets around
Widgets R Us: More than 5,000 widget molds at your fingertips
That’s your USP�unique selling point
KNOW YOUR COMPETITION
What do you offer that they don’t?
KNOW YOUR COMPETITION
Reframing the USP FEATURE Handcrafted since 1977 using custom specs CUSTOMER BENEFIT • Precision parts; no glitches • Company will be there tomorrow • Made to order; will solve our problem exactly
Who else is doing what
you do?
KNOW YOUR COMPETITION
How are they positioning themselves?!
What do you have available?
REVIEW YOUR INVENTORY 4.• Website, social platforms • Blogs, industry articles • Newsletters, emails • Brochures, sales materials • Ads • News releases
REVIEW YOUR INVENTORY
What messages are you sending your customers?
!
• Identified your audience
• Identified their pain points
• Reviewed your competition • Determined your USP
• Translated that USP into
customer solutions • Reviewed your current messaging
YOUR HOMEWORK'S
DONE!
DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE 5.• Features • Differentiators • Reframe as benefits for customers
Answer the customer’s primary question:
WIIFM? (What’s in it for me?) !
DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE
DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE
• Features: Full-service widget manufacturing, exceptional quality, experienced team, fast turnaround, scalable solutions, affordably priced
• Differentiators: Handcrafted, not robotic; capable of building to customers’ specs; longevity of company; 100% on-time completion rate
• Benefits: Custom-designed widgets precisely fit customer specifications; high quality, yet affordable; reliability ensures no loss of time (or money) on order
DESCRIBE YOUR PRODUCT/SERVICE
How you say it matters
• Tone • Style • Level of information • Consistent use
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE 6.Create the core message
first�then draft versions, as needed
CORE MESSAGE
VERSION
A VERSION
B VERSION
C
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Best practices
• Brevity • Lead with strongest point • Present as solution • Appeal with emotion • Choose clear over clever • Add Call to Action (CTA)
Spotify Soundtrack Your Life
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Examples of strong positioning statements
Mail Chimp Send Better Email
Lyft Rides in Minutes
Vimeo Make Life Worth Watching
Handcrafting widgets to your exact specifications.
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Positioning statement
Mass-produced widgets can have flaws and inconsistencies that lead to equipment failure. But ABC Widgets has discovered a way to handcraft widgets to your exact specifications—and do so affordably.
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Elevator speech
ABC Widgets is an Iowa-based manufacturer that produces handcrafted, custom-designed widgets. The company has offered high-quality, affordable components to industrial customers throughout the Midwest since 1977.
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Company Bio
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Sales Pitch
The hidden cost of mass-produced widgets could cost you thousands of dollars! But high-quality, handcrafted widgets from ABC widgets are designed to your exact specifications. Find out how we can save you money!
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
Versioned messages • ABC Widgets is celebrating our 40th anniversary—and we’re giving
you the present! Click here to learn more. • Handcrafted, custom-designed widgets for
agricultural equipment manufacturers. • This handcrafted custom-designed widget saved
our customer $10,000. Contact ABC Widgets to see what we can do for you.
As you’re writing your messages, test their effectiveness
Ask “SO WHAT?!?!” (That’s what your customers will be asking!)
!
WRITE YOUR MESSAGE
PUT YOUR MESSAGE TO WORK 7.• One message, multiple uses • Manage the message • Measure effectiveness
Your marketing message Today’s 4 Key
Takeaways 1. Grabs customers’ attention 2. Tells how you’ll solve their problem 3. Builds their trust in you 4. Incites them to buy
EVERYTHING STARTS WITH
MESSAGE Thank you for your time today!
Kathy Dorff, Lexicon Content Marketing [email protected]!