I was inspired to write this month’s e-bulletin by a regular conversation I have with clients. When discussing a client’s next direct mail piece, advert, blog, article or in fact any marketing communication I find I end up going through the same process, for the same reasons.

It really stems from the fact that in order to be really good at business and marketing communication we need to think less about what we want to say and what we are interested in and more about what our customers, prospects or audiences are interested in hearing about.

When you have a new product to launch or are desperately trying to attract new clients there’s a real danger that your focus is all about you and your business and not enough about the people you want to communicate with or sell to.

When it comes to business communication there are a few simple rules to follow and processes to understand which will make all of your communications more effective and help you achieve your communications goals.

Tune in

There are two perspectives for every marketing communication – the broadcaster and the listener. One potential difficulty is that the two sides are tuned into different frequencies. The broadcaster is tuned into the ‘what WE do’ frequency, whilst the listener is only interested in the ‘what’s in it for ME’ frequency and this is where so many marketing messages go astray.

Assuming you have clearly defined your target audience then getting your marketing message right need not be difficult. Once you know your target audience you can tell them exactly what’s in it for them.

Sticking to the same analogy you also need to be aware of the other ‘noise’ that your audiences are subject to. Whether that’s from your competitors or just other competing communications, it helps if you can appreciate where they are getting information from, who is influencing them, what they are reading and who they respect. You can use this information in deciding how to deliver your message, as well as how you will cut through all the other communications they are subject to.

Perfect your message

Perfecting the message is the most difficult part of the process and one which needs time and a degree of skill. But there are some techniques that will help. Firstly think about both the features and the benefits of what you are trying to sell or communicate. Using this technique will help you get people saying ‘yes’ to what you are selling or telling, much more quickly.

If you’re a coach, a feature of what you do might be regular 1:1 structured telephone sessions in which you ask probing questions of managers in line for promotion.

If you’re an accountant, a feature of what you do might be to produce monthly management reports for small businesses with no in-house accounts function.

If you’re a trainer, a feature of what you do might be that you run sales training courses for non sales people.

There’s one important thing to note about the way these features are expressed. The target market is at least partly defined and explained. To get this far therefore you need to be very clear on who you are targeting with the communications you are creating.

Get to the benefits

It’s often said that no one buys or is really interested in the features. You’ve got to convert the features, the ‘what you do’ into ‘what they get’ – the benefit.

So in our examples, what are the benefits?

...the coach will prepare the manager to take on new responsibilities so that they can contribute to the business more quickly

...the accountant will increase financial control and improve decision making in the business by providing up to date information to the MD

...the trainer will improve sales performance or take the fear out of selling

Unless you can translate the features of what you do into benefits you are going to struggle to get your core marketing message across.

Be prepared to prove it

Talking about the results you get can be a key part of your marketing message. Getting into the detail here is a great way to bring alive the kind of benefits you can deliver. For example:

“A recent client called me because they were spending too much to generate new client enquiries. We analysed their situation and I was able to make comparisons with other companies in their sector. We concluded their web presence was letting them down. Three months after launching a new website they had increased new client enquiries by 20% and cut the cost of generating each enquiry by 50%. Each month they were generating £15,000 in additional sales.”

You will have examples just like this one and if not you’ll need to develop them. It’s this kind of example that makes your marketing message convincing, not descriptions of ‘how’ you achieve the results.

Stop before you speak

We’re all the same really – when we’ve got a message to deliver we think first about what it is we want to say. Think instead about who you want to communicate with and put yourself in their shoes. What are their top priorities? What keeps them awake at night? What interests them? What challenges do they face in their business? If you can address one of these questions in an interesting and engaging way and demonstrate the benefits of what you offer or what it is you want to say you will have a far greater likelihood of success.

Further reading:  

Why defining your target market is the core of all marketing

How people buy – the role of advertising and marketing

Written by Teresa Harris, Second Opinion Marketing. Teresa is an independent marketing consultant working with professional practices, small businesses and public sector bodies to develop effective marketing plans which achieve their business objectives. As a marketing coach Teresa works with new marketing managers and small business owners to enhance their marketing performance.