3 Tips for Writing Reader-Friendly Marketing Messages

I've borrowed these 3 tips directly from Harvard Business Review that recommended them as 3 Tips for Writing Reader-Friendly Memos. The exact same advice works excellently for marketing messages.

1. Avoid complex phrasing. Writing elegantly is not important; delivering smart content is. Let the message stand out more than your language. (perfectly said)

2. Be concise. Many memo (marketing) writers get hung up on "flow." But flowing sentences tend to be long and dense. You don't need choppy sentences, just hardworking ones that deliver content concisely.

3. Skip the jargon. Jargon can be a useful way to communicate among experts, but you should never use jargon if it's meaningless, if you don't understand it, or when your audience isn't familiar with it. (Hint: be sure you understand your audience.)

My advice: Too many people think for marketing you need to write to impress people. Really you should be aiming to write in a way that persuades people. Keep it simple enough for your audience to easily understand - and be sure to include a clear call to action. Let them know what they should do next if they want to move forward.

Never Stop Marketing Your Business - Or You Will Get Eaten Alive

A stark reminder of what happens when you don't market your business. From this news story of today... the key part is this:

When the economy is genuinely humming, the growth rates of retail chains and small retailers tend to be roughly in sync.

However, during downturns it is common for their performances to diverge, with the chains using their greater pricing flexibility and marketing muscle to keep the top line ticking along.

For example, in financial year 2008, even as interest rates rose because of Reserve Bank fears about an overheating economy, the growth rate differential between the chains and the independents - excluding businesses in food away from home - was just half a percentage point. Since then the difference has blown out to almost 9 percentage points.

My work is mainly within the B-to-B sector, but the comparison to how larger franchise and company-owned groups (the chains) maintain their position in tough times by using their 'pricing' and 'marketing muscle' is a strong reminder of why you always need to market your business - no matter what industry you are in.

1. Define your niche (or specialty).
2. Identify the value you provide (in the eyes of your client).
3. Develop an effective marketing program.
4. Keep doing it - all the time.

How *Not* To Send a Christmas Message

You can see below a Christmas letter I received last week from a mortgage broker. We had used the mortgage broker when we refinanced a few years ago, but we hardly ever hear from her.

The Christmas message arrived in an envelope bearing the logo of the mortgage broking company (which I won’t mention here). It is a major company.

When I opened the envelope I was shocked (from a marketing perspective) to find that the sender had not mentioned her name at all. She didn’t even sign off with her name or company. No name, no company, no logo. Who is it from? I had to assume it was from the broker we used.

See what I mean…
(click image to enlarge)















I can understand the intention of the message was to provide a chatty year-in-review, New Year resolution-type of update.

However I am appalled at the thought that the sender thinks this is good client relations.

The problems:

* The message (and the envelope) never mentions who it is from.

* The opening line is confusing… do we match any?? (what are we matching?)

* Trying to sell me to attend investor seminars… inappropriate to do here. Better to send me another message specifically about that.

* Mentioning personal and family achievements is out of place, as the sender never takes time to ‘ever’ make contact at other times of year. Am I interested in what she has done with her frequent flyer points? (answer: not really)

* Signing off with “From our family to yours” is insincere… I’ve never met her family, and she doesn’t know ours. Importantly, we never hear from her at other times.

You might think I’m being a grump at Christmas time. But I’m not.

If you are going to send any message that purports to be personal, you must be sure to make personal contact. Don’t send a generic ‘personal’ note to people that you hardly ever contact.

Developing client relationships needs to be an ongoing strategy for you. Not just something you hurriedly do at Christmas time.

Are You Fooling Yourself

It's hard work being consistent.

And sometimes it can be boring.

When we start something new - whether it be a new exercise regime or reading the first chapter of a best-selling novel - we get caught up in the excitement. We might even experience an adrenalin rush. It feels good.

But it doesn't stay that way. At least in most cases anyway.

What happens?

We get used to it.

Doing the same thing. Over. And over again.

This reminds me of a quote attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Aesop - 'Familiarity breeds contempt'.

In other words we get used to it and start to forget why it is important for us. We overlook the purpose of what we are doing. We lose sight of our initial objective because we get bored or lazy.

It is the same with doing your marketing. It is easy to get excited by the latest fad, marketing technique, or piece of advice. But the excitement doesn't last. You get lazy.

You find yourself committed to too many things. Most of which are only half done. Then you let things slip by.

= = =

* Skipping the personal networking events.
* Overlooking the regular newsletter article, or blog post.
* Not sending 'thank you' messages.
* Updating the website only 'when I have time'.

= = =

Sidebar: Many successful business owners pretty much know what
they should be doing. Their challenge is often having the
discipline or structure to implement what they know. This is
where a coaching or marketin mentor program can be invaluable.

For any business, one of the secrets to marketing success is to be consistent.

Of course you need to be doing the right things in the first place. And then ensure you are consistent in your implementation.

That is why - when planning your marketing - you must make choices you can consistently deliver.

An example. For many service-based businesses presenting an informative seminar can be a fantastic way to build credibility and attract clients. As you would expect, presenting seminars on a consistent basis will have even greater impact.

But if you know you don't have the skills, or the enthusiasm, to deliver informative seminars don't make the mistake of including that tactic in your marketing schedule.

Don't fool yourself.

Because if you can't commit to being consistent it is rarely a good idea to do it at all.

Please don't misunderstand me here. I'm not suggesting you should simply ignore every marketing tactic you don't like. (In some cases that wouldn't leave much on the to-do list!)

If presenting seminars was important for growing your business I would recommend you learn effective presentation skills as your first option.

In summary, identify and explore the value of relevant marketing options. Then consistently implement your chosen strategy.

Related link:
Get help to implement effective marketing with Stuarts Marketing Mentor Program

Does Cold Calling Really Work? The answer is...

After working in sales and marketing for many years the most despised area of promotion seems to be 'cold calling'. This is when a prospect is contacted via the phone, and is solicited for new business.

See... even the way I used the word 'solicited' makes it sound dodgy. A bit cheap and nasty.

I could have said: This is the process of personal contact used to identify if a prospect is likely to have a need for your services.

You see, it depends on your point of view.

* Does cold calling work?
* Should you be using it for your business?
* Should you be dumping the phone and instead opt for the new online social networks?

In short, you can read articles like this one from the UK that gives some pro's and con's of cold calling, and discusses the use of online networks as an alternative.

You can also attend quality telesales training courses like the one provided by Jenny Cartwright at Sales and Telesales Solutions.

And you can see results of comparative 'tests' like this one reported at Modern Selling, comparing the number of cold phone calls made, versus making contact via online networks.

All roads lead to the same answer.

It's true that the use of telemarketing is slowly declining. That is occurring for many reasons.

Importantly, using the telephone to contact potential clients is a tactic that will not be disappearing any time soon.

- It is relatively cheap (especially for smaller businesses who don't have the massive advertising budgets to get 'on the radar')

- It is immediate. You know what the result is.

- It is personal. You can make an impact (positive or negative!).

- And if used professionally it can be one of the best ways to create sales opportunities.

Most people dislike 'cold calling' because it is done badly so often.

However, you can do a better job and get better results.

1. Train your staff who will make the calls. It requires skill, tact, and professionalism.
   
2. Develop a script (statements and questions) that doesn't trigger any 'sales person' alarms for your prospect.
3. Develop supporting documents (marketing materials)... I call them sales tools.
4. Create a question-based strategy that quickly gets to the core of if there is an opportunity for a further discussion.
5. Be selective in who you call - have a relevant list to work from. If possible do some homework to identify what the company does, what their current issues are, and who you should speak to.
   
6. Implement a marketing strategy that will warm up prospects, potentially creating interest in your services - essentially getting your prospects to qualify themselves, without you having to call them.

Finally, remember that for B-to-B selling the focus of cold calling is most often about identifying opportunities. It is not about trying to 'clinch the sale' on the first phone call.

Being 'Standard' Can Win You More Business

A recent article from MarketingProfs highlights how rectangular product packaging has a 'golden ratio' that makes the size most appealing to consumers. Key point: The higher the fun factor, the less important it is to stick to the golden ratio.

My reading of this is that the more serious the purchase decision, the more buyers will want your service/business to appear to be 'standard'.

In other words, being standard can make the buying decision easier (and safer) for customers.

Think about it - if you are about to have serious surgery you don't want a doctor joking around. You want them to be like the 'standard' doctor - serious and deliberate. However for treatment a minor ailment a bit of unexpected humour may be appreciated.

YOUR ACTION...
* Consider how seriously your customers treat the decision to buy from you.
* The more serious it is, you need to pay attention to creating trust by being familiar to them.

In other words, just like the golden ratio for rectangular product packaging, be aware of what your customers prefer to see in their service provider. And make sure your service looks familiar (and reliable).

Although being standard may sound boring... it could win you more business.

The value of building a brand for B2B companies

I was discussing some issues with my business partner in Solutions Found, including the impact of branding for a B2B company. Most people think of 'brands' as mainly being important for consumer products. But the idea of brand is also critical for B2B companies.

In the B2B space a lot of the business is driven by personal contacts, and personal relationships. And it might be tempting to think that the overall brand of the company is not so important. But it is.

For B2B companies, the brand should be used to create a sense of unity, and reassurance, for the customer. In fact many companies offer a variety of products or services under the one main company name (or brand). These individual products can be come a confusing mess of opportunity for customers, unless they are given clear distinctions between each product and who is selling it.

A great explanation of this is given by John Quelch at Harvard Business.

By having a unifying brand image, it is also easier to control communications from different parts of the organization. This is something we covered at a recent seminar on centralizing email marketing for franchise groups.

The 'brand' must be championed by the CEO and other senior leaders within the company. And the task of maintaining the brand usually falls into the marketing department.

Although in reality, the marketing department only directly controls a portion of the communications within a B2B company. Other departments such as sales and technical support have significant direct contact with customers (verbal and written) and they also need to be brought on stream - guided - with how to manage and implement the 'brand message'.