Have you ever been to a networking event where someone asks what your organisation does? Of have you ever had to write a summary of what the organisation does in just a few short paragraphs?
Many people have not taken the time to clearly define their organisation’s marketing message in few words. But if you spend time to develop a great message, you can use it many times. You can use it face-to-face, on your website and social media profiles, in your brochures and in the rest of your marketing footprint.
So here is a simple exercise to help you develop your marketing message. It will help you come up with a message based on the problem/solution technique that I mention in my ‘How to be a better copywriter’ article.
1. What is the problem that you solve?
Think about:
- Who are your clients? (Companies and/or individuals.)
- What are their problems? (For example, not enough time to do something, no expertise in a particular field, losing money.)
- What are the results of their problems? (For example, too much time away from their core business, losing customers.)
Put these three together and you might get something like this:
‘Lots of business owners with up to 100 employees find they can’t afford to employ a dedicated HR manager. So they spend too much time struggling with issues like benefits, sickness or tax problems. These business owners are wasting time that they could be spending with customers and they are losing sales as a result.’
2. What are the core benefits people get from you?
What will life be like for people if they buy from you? For example, what is life like for your clients after you have helped them?
Example continued:
It needn’t be like that because you can have great HR policies and implement them without the hassle. For example, our clients spend less than an hour each month on the sorts of things usually carried out by a personnel department, yet they avoid the cost of hiring a full time HR manager.
3. What is the solution that delivers these benefits?
How do you give people these results?
Example continued:
‘My business is called ZXY HR and we design personnel policies that match your needs and give you HR staff with no less than five years’ experience on a retainer basis, so that you only pay us when you use us.’
4. What is your call to action?
Give people a reason to do something. (Even if they don’t want to buy from you today.)
Example continued:
‘We have put together a free guide to the ten biggest mistakes people running small businesses make when it comes to HR policy – and over thirty solutions so you can get things right. Order your copy from www.xyzhr.com today.’
Why not get together with a couple of colleagues or friends and kick some ideas around. Try out a few different approaches in person with potential customers and see which one gets the best response. Then, make this your core message throughout your marketing campaign.
This approach is by no means the only one, but it might just help you get noticed more than ever before.
Call me on 01733 840259
or 07759 292329.
E-mail: richard@pcbonline.co.uk
Call me on 01733 840259 or 07759 292329. E-mail: richard@pcbonline.co.uk