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Thursday, January 20, 2011

A New Marketing Message for a New Year

By Aaron S. Robertson

In this new year, we at Intrepid Innovations are experimenting with some changes. They are simple word and messaging changes, but they are changes that will come to play a major role in the success of our company.

Following is an e-mail I sent to my two business partners at Intrepid some days ago. If you're a business owner or professional, reflect on these questions while reading the e-mail:

  • When I first approach potential customers, how am I currently explaining to them what it is I do?
  • Does my current explanation of what it is I do encompass everything I am capable of offering?
  • Is it possible I am leaving opportunities and money on the table because of my current message?
  • How can I come up with a new message that briefly but powerfully encompasses all I can offer?
Here's that e-mail:

After doing some research on this and adapting some ideas from my sales training, I propose that, from this new year onward, when someone asks us what we do, our first response should be something like, "We offer affordable and effective online advertising solutions."

(Not only should this be our response to individual persons, though, but this should also be the overall message we convey to the world on our Web site, and I gave Phil some ideas for new text not too long ago that we can try out on our site.)

Why this new message, you may be wondering? Because if our first response is, "We do Web and graphic design" (and this has in fact been our first response in most cases), that person is likely to instantly arrive at the conclusion that s/he will never be in need of our services (because they already have a Web site, they already have a logo/branding, whatever the case may be). It's all psychological. However, if we say, "We offer affordable and effective online advertising solutions," the person is more inclined to think, "Great, I can use your services. I'm interested in learning more about what you do." Who doesn't want affordable and effective online advertising solutions? Even businesses who already have a Web site are always looking. Even businesses who don't have a Web site are always looking for some form of advertising.

Again, it's all psychological. We don't want people to think that we only do Web and graphic design, and that's exactly what they'll think if that's the first thing we tell them. If they already have a site, branding, etc., they're likely to instantly disqualify us in their minds. Mentally, they're telling themselves that they already have these things in place and, therefore, we can't be of any use to them.

But we can be of use to them. We offer fantastic copy writing skills. We do great SEO. We have access to blogs, forums, directories, and article distribution networks. We can build search engine -friendly social media profiles. And that's why we say, "Affordable and effective online advertising solutions". With wording like that, we open up endless possibilities and opportunities with the people we meet and the visitors who stumble across our Web site, instead of closing doors and leaving money on the table.

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