by Jaco Grobbelaar, owner of BroadVision Marketing and Robert Middleton, owner of Action Plan Marketing
Once you understand the basics of Marketing Syntax, you have the building blocks that enable you to create marketing messages that actually communicate the true value you offer.
The problems most professional service businesses encounter in developing such a marketing message include the following:
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The message isn't directed to a target market
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The message fails to hit a nerve.
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The message talks about services, not solutions.
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The message tries to say too much and gets unwieldy.
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The message doesn't say enough and becomes cryptic.
All of these are relatively easy to solve, as these examples show:
1. Isn't directed to a target market:
Every marketing message should start with something like: "We work with this kind of client…" or "We help this kind of client…" (insert the appropriate demographics or psychographics)
2. Fails to hit a nerve:
Talk about a problem, challenge, issue, pain, or predicament that is symptomatic and clearly observable. Say: "We work with managers who are struggling to reach their financial targets." This they can understand, and it hits a nerve. Don't say, "We work with managers who are marginalizing their optimal financial opportunities." Huh? Don't laugh, we've heard worse marketing messages.
3. Talks about services, not solutions:
When you talk about services, we need to translate what it means to us. If you get right into solutions, results and outcomes, we see the immediate benefit. "We offer a retention maximization program," isn't as good as, "We have a service that will help you retain your best employees." Now that has marketing message value.
4. Says too much:
To get someone's attention, you need to communicate in meaningful sound bites. Run-on sentences or worse, marketing messages with multiple targets, problems, and solutions, will only confuse people: "We work with large and small companies in the broadband and microwave industries who have management, marketing and financial issues and want to dominate markets at the lowest cost while retaining high-performing and self-generating managers/leaders." Expect confused looks.
5. Says too little:
You might understand the marketing message you've come up with, but your audience many need some translation. "What do you do?" "I'm a management consultant." Wait, what's wrong with that? Nothing except that it's meaningless except to other management consultants. There's no target, problem or solution. And so the twenty questions game begins.
Next, we will discuss how you expand your marketing message into written marketing materials that communicate about your services in more depth.
Are your marketing messages going where you want them to?
For more information:
- Marketing Syntax - The Language of Marketing
- Suggestions solicited for fine-tuning "marketing syntax" | LinkedIn ..
- Step 1 - Marketing Ball - The Game of Marketing for Marketing Plan Workbook
Jaco Grobbelaar is the owner of BroadVision Marketing. BroadVision Marketing works with business owners to put in place inbound and outbound marketing strategies that consistently secure new clients. The BroadVision Marketing Training Center is located in Petaluma, CA and primarily serves companies in the San Francisco Bay area.
Jaco can be reached at jaco@broadvisionmarketing.com or 707.766.9778 or connect with Jaco on Facebook - www.facebook.com/broadvisionmarketing - and LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/JacoGrobbelaar.
Robert Middleton has been the owner of Action Plan Marketing since 1984. He specializes in helping Independent Professionals be better marketers and attract more clients. He has two main services - the Fast Track to More Clients Program and the Marketing Mastery Group. He lives and runs his business from Northern California in the redwoods near Santa Cruz. You can reach Robert through his website: http://actionplan.com, by email at apm @ actionplan.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=731554912, and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/robertmiddleton.
