Every once in a while I’ll receive marketing material that is so awful, I can’t believe it was produced. It’s always a good reminder that even some marketing “professionals” don’t know what they’re doing, so if they could use a refresher, the folks who don’t do it daily for a living probably could too.
Which leads me to this week’s post. There are four tough, good questions to ask whenever you prepare an ad, e-mail, letter, brochure, website, etc.
- Why should anyone READ it (or watch, listen, go to your booth, etc.)?
- Why should anyone care about what you’re saying?
- Why should they believe YOU or listen to you?
- Why should anyone respond IMMEDIATELY?
As stated, TOUGH questions. The marketplace is saturated right now with CHOICES. No one is desperately in need of anything you sell, and it’s best you start with THAT premise rather than believing people are hankering for what you sell and interested in what you do. Desire and interest must be manufactured.
But poor me, I’m stuck with an ordinary business/service/product. Humbug.
There is no such thing unless you make it that way. My Pillow has sold over 41 million pillows at near TRIPLE THE PRICE of other similar pillows, mostly due to their advertising on TV infomercials. The founder-turned-multimillionaire, Michael Lindell, started the company in 2004 with five employees and today has over 1,500 staff members with sales of $280 million. Folks, it’s a pillow. Spanx, which are essentially a pair of pantyhose with the legs cut off, made Sara Blakely a billionaire. Jennifer Telfer created Pillow Pets, which is just a stuffed animal that lies flat and can be used as a pillow – an idea that generated over $100 million in sales.
Starbucks and coffee. McDonald’s and hamburgers. It’s ALL ordinary.
There are no such things as irredeemably ordinary, mundane, boring products that cannot be rescued from commoditization – only people with ordinary, mundane and boring ways of marketing and promoting. People with no imagination or initiative who prefer THIS excuse over opportunity.
There are countless businesses that sell ordinary things in extraordinary ways. To quote Thomas Barratt, the former chairman of A&F Pears soap manufacturer and a man many consider the father of modern advertising, “Any fool can make soap; it takes a clever man to sell it.”
So before you roll out that next campaign, make sure you answer these four questions. Often, it’s not in the “stuff” you’re selling, but how you’re selling it.
Now for another tough question. Does your marketing answer the questions above? If you said “No,” I’d like to offer you a FREE one-on-one marketing consultation where one of my top advisors will give you a copy of our Marketing Roadmap, customized for you and your business. Schedule your consultation at today www.technologymarketingtoolkit.com/consult [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
