Mktg. Messages: Merde Before Magic
“Man, This sh** is hard!” - Schmidt client quote
We marketers love to throw rocks at each other regarding boring blah-blah marketing speak. However, to be fair, one reason we see so much of it (”leading innovator of world-class solutions for enterprise success”..etc. etc. ad nauseum) is that it’s the path of least resistance and we’ve only got so many hours to come up with brilliance. The good stuff is difficult and great is even harder. So, here are three quick pointers for you:
1. Just throw some “merde” down and get to work. You’ve got to start somewhere. If you must, actually write down, “A leading supplier of [insert your type of product/service]” Then, step back and ask yourself why would a customer care about this? (Yawn) - particularly when all your competitors are probably saying pretty much the same thing. (ZZZZZzzzzz…) Then, scratch out that sentence and start writing fun, crazy, stupid crap. And, keep going. There’s golden magic in there somewhere.
2. The “magic” won’t appeal to everyone. What one person loves, another will hate (or just not get at all.) But, the people who love it will buy from you repeatedly, tell everyone about you, keep your postcards on the bulletin board, link to your site/blog, etc. etc. (IF you deliver on the magic)… and clutch your ankles and practically sob if you try to leave them. So, don’t be afraid to be different - that’s the only way you’re going to get noticed.
3. Don’t read your competitors’ stuff to “get ideas!” Sure, you need to know what they’re saying, but pretend you have no competitors. (Customer fear of change and/or inertia is likely your biggest competition anyway.) Focus on your customers. What is meaningful to them? It sure isn’t that you’re an “innovative supplier” or a “world-class provider” or that you “support leading Fortune 50 companies.”
Now, go think about some sh**!
Related Posts:
Creative (and Effective) Mktg: Why I Love the Web
Marketing Messages: Are You a “We” or an “It?”
Marketing Messages: Is Everything “Awesome?”
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Tags: marketing communications, marketing, marketing troubleshooting
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April 14th, 2007 at 5:48 am
Mary - Great point about just getting something down on paper. What I like to do with a messaging client is come up with something I call the “stuck in the elevator pitch”. This is a longish-piece 250-500 words or so that captures everything something might care or need to know about the company and product: what it does, who uses it, why they use it. Once we’ve got this “source document”, I do a 100 word version, then a 75 word version, then 50, 25, 10…. By the time you’ve got it down to 10 words, you’ve got the heart of your message.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:55 am
Maureen,
Excellent point re drill down - and if you can’t get it down to as few a words as possible - then you need to go back and do more work on the core “value proposition” (aargh, marketing speak alert!)
Also, think about, “how would you describe to a couple of buddies over a beer? What gets you excited about the idea, business, product?” (And, if you’re not really excited - are, for example, doing it solely to make a lot of money - chances are you’re not going to succeed.) If you’re not passionate, you can’t expect your customers to be.