competitive advantage
What is the reason for the existence of your business ? Every business should think about this deeply . And having found a reason to exist , it should communicate that reason to its target customers effectively.This will create a a very distinct position in the customer’s mind about the business . Being true to that position will bring in huge dividends to any business.
This unique positioning cannot be created by thinking about one’s own passion. It has to be created by thinking about customers’ pain, frustration and needs.Passion has to match the customer’s requirements , otherwise it can be a great hobby but not a great business.
Create unique assets in the business which can be protected and are not easy to replicate.Create an economic advantage. Put together a complex system , which someone looking from outside will be completely overwhelmed but you have mastered it and it works like clockwork. Stand for something which is contrary to accepted conventional wisdom.
What is wrong with most advertisements
A competent and great actor in a movie will not draw attention to himself. He will draw attention to the character that he is playing. He will live the character and the character would be supreme.
Similarly an advertisement cannot draw attention to itself.The advertisement is the actor, who has to draw attention to the character i.e the product or service, it is communicating about.
After reading or watching the advertisemnt the audience should get attracted to the product or service the advertisement has been created for . If the audience is attracted to the advertisement instead of the product or service , the very purpose of the advertisement is lost. It is a waste of money , time and energy.
Unfortunately most of the advertisisng folks evaluate advertisisng by how entertaining or creative advertisement was , not how effectively the advertisement created an attraction for the product or service or how sales increased due to the advertisement .
Evaluate every marketing communication piece by the outcome that it will deliver, not by the creativity of the advertisement. If that is what the advertising agency wants to do , they better become painters , novelists, moviemakers ,not marketing speciaists.
How to generate leads
1.Define who the lead generation communication is targeted at / focused on. It should be abundantly clear to the reader whether the ad was written for him or not. If I read the ad and cannot tell who it’s NOT for, it has failed. There are two reasons why most advertising blows this. First, because the advertiser actually does not know who he wants. Second, because the advertiser is foolishly trying to be all things to all people, to exclude no one.
2.You need a headline that compels readership by the targeted audience. isolate the headline from everything else and see if it works in isolation.
3.Avoid being clever. That’s the main reason truly lousy headlines exist in pathetic ads. Lead generation is really very, very simple. It’s about fair exchange. I want your contact details and permission to tell my sales story.In exchange I will make an offer , which would be irrestible , if you are the person I want.
4.Spend serious thought on the offer. It should be information the targeted person instantly wants, lusts after, feels he must have and/or is scared not to get. What is offered should be titled, described and valued as if money was demanded for it. In other words, sold. Hard. And precisely matched to the targeted prospect.
5.Inject urgency. Ask for immediate response. Clearly tell how to respond, and make it easy - And give reason and/or incentive for doing it now, not later.
6.Seriously consider driving off the unqualified. Some of the best lead generation advertising tells who should not respond. The very fact that you clearly tell a bunch of people to go away and not bother you makes you more attractive to the qualified prospects you seek.
Making your communication believable
People don’t believe you. They believe what someone else says about you. There are many ways by which you can make your communication believebale . Here is a list :
1. Customer Testimonials
2. Celebrity Testimonials
3. Expert Testimonials
4. Media Information
5. Documentation
6. Demonstration
7. Illustration
8. Statistics
Effective marketing communication
1. Are you speaking , talking , discussing and showing the real pains and frustrations of your customers
2. Are you offering a solution to solve those pains , problems and frustrations
3.Is the solution that you are offering remarkable, differentiated,outstanding
4.Do you have testimonials, case studies , results from your satisfied customers validating what you claim
Put the above together and your marketing communication piece will pull in clients like crazy.
what are you really marketing?
You are not in the business of marketing your product or service. You are in the business of marketing ‘ information about the pain and frustration of your prospects’ which your product or service solves.
Fish where the fish are
Come to think of it , fishing seems to be a great metaphor for what marketing should be and could be. If you want to catch a lot of fish , one of the best ways is to go out to an area of the river/ pond wher there are a lot of fish. Throw the fishing net and voila , you have a very big haul of fish.
So the lesson here is to look for places/mediums/ where there are a large number of your prospects present . Cast your marketing net . And at one stroke you get a large number of prospects /clients.
So fish where the fish are.
Hunting or fishing
A lot of time businesses are in the hunting mode. It’s like the tiger chasing the deer in one of the African safari movies on the Discovery channel. The business is chasing the prospect to get him. But just like the tiger in these shows – it is a long chase and takes a huge amount of energy , and many a times it has to be abandoned.
Now consider fishing. An entirely different scenario plays out here. You take the fishing line , put a bait and throw it in the river. And sure enough after some time a fish bites, gets hooked and you bring the fish in . You are not drained out of energy . You can keep throwing the bait and you can keep attracting the fish and can keep bringing them in.
Fishing it seems, is not only so much more effective than hunting , it is so much more productive as well.
Marketing is therefore all about creating the right attraction, to get a steady stream of prospects, to get a steady stream of clients.
So start fishing . Stop hunting
