Articles, Presentations, & Press Releases

Got Messages?

The task of developing marketing messages is often regarded as a necessary evil. In large companies, teams of people will fight over which messages should be used. For small companies or entrepreneurs, such an exercise is often considered unnecessary, consuming valuable time that could be spent in getting the product out the door. But believe me, it is worth the small amount of time that it takes to develop a set of messages. It will save you many headaches later on during the launch process, and will help to keep you on track at such times when you become so wrapped up in the launch that you can’t remember the original focus or where the coffee pot is (a grim, common occurrence during product launch).

Developing a list of messages is easy and needn’t be time-consuming if you keep things simple and realistic. Messages are a group of words or phrases that will help communicate to your target customer information about your product and company, and help convince that customer to buy your product or service. In order to be effective, messages need to be read or heard and easily understood by your customer. Your customer needs to identify with those words, to care about those words, and believe those words. It really is true that people often hear only what they want to hear, and consciously or unconsciously filter out everything else, and remember, your customers are people!

Before you begin the process of creating and writing messages, gather together the most current competitive analysis, strategic objectives, customer description and value proposition, positioning and strategy, and detailed description of your product or service. You’ll be referring to that information while you create the messages.

Words Are All I Have..
Start by thinking about which WORDS should be used to:
-convey the value of your product/service
-differentiate your product/company from that of your competitors
-show that you understand the customer’s problem or situation
-educate the customer about what the product is and does

Begin by listing out key WORDS that relate to the situation – just brainstorm, which means anything goes. Words that convey value or demonstrate differentiation might be: faster, higher, stronger, effective, high-quality, superior, world-class, right, any, low-cost. Words and phrases that show you understand your customer’s problem might include things like: “in today’s dynamic economy”, “maximizing your IT investment”, or “freeing up resources to be used more effectively”. These phrases should relate to a business problem that your customer has. The words and phrases (and sometimes numbers) that educate your customer about the product should be factual, descriptive, and truthful; don’t exaggerate. Examples are: “our anti-virus program is integrated with the main application”, “we offer a range of services suitable for organizations up to 500 people”, or “our smart card technology is consistent with European standards.”

Start a Conversation
After brainstorming an initial set of words or phrases, compile a list of these phrases and words, and try creating some sentences with them, as if you were having a face-to-face conversation with a customer. Say them out loud – to your team or to yourself. Do they sound realistic? Is it something that would be part of a business conversation? If not, change the words to keep them simple, less formal, more specific or whatever is needed to make the messages clear and concise.

Go for Ten
How many messages do you need? You’ll definitely need more than one, because you can’t write a piece of marketing collateral with one message repeated in every paragraph. Err on the side of too many; you don’t have to use them all. Ten key messages should be a minimum number to start with. If you think that’s a lot, try this exercise: Picture yourself in a job interview. What ten things would you want a potential employer to know about you? How about: pertinent experience, education, right skills, hard-working, likes challenges, gets along with people, willing to relocate or not, available in the near-term, good references, can make a significant contribution to the success of the company. Any product, service, or person can be described in at least 10 ways! You’ll need some messages in each category: those that relate to your customer’s problem, those that describe your product/service, and those that differentiate you from the competition.

Tell Me a Story
Now that you have a whole pile of messages ready to go, it’s time to put them together into effective marketing copy. It means taking the words and phrases, forming sentences and paragraphs to create a marketing “story”. For anyone who has ever taken a writing class, the first thing you learn is that a story has a beginning, middle and an end. The only difference between a story and marketing material is that rather than entertain the reader, the marketing material is supposed to inform the reader – although there is no reason why marketing copy can’t be entertaining as well. Don’t be afraid to take a unique approach or have fun with it, within reason.

Suppose that the marketing piece is a brochure that has some text and some graphics. The beginning of the marketing “story” should immediately get the reader’s (customer’s) attention. At the very beginning, use the messages that relate to your customer’s problem. The reader/customer must relate to the marketing copy right away or they won’t continue reading. In the middle section, use the factual content about your product and service and how it solves the problem. The end should contain the messages about your key differentiators, with a final statement that relates back to your customer’s problem again. You’ve come full circle with your marketing story now. You’ve told your customer you understand their problem, that you have a solution, that your solution is unique and will have value for them. If you have a brochure with about 6 paragraphs of total copy, the first will be the customer problem paragraph, the next 3 should be about your product/service, the next one should be about your differentiators, and the last paragraph should include a repeat of the customer problem and a wrap-up summary sentence. The graphics in the brochure can help to illustrate the messages from the beginning, middle or end sections.

The Quick and Quirky Example
Okay, here is a hypothetical (let’s hope so) example to illustrate the process. Let’s assume the product is a digital camera. Your target customer is a scuba diver: upscale, has money, buys latest technology.

Your brainstorming session produced the following words and phrases regarding the product and differentiators:
-tiny, lightest, first waterproof digital camera, easy to use, compatible with all photo printers, priced under competition, advanced zoom functionality, higher memory, underwater filters, one multipurpose cable for computers or printers

Here are some of the messages:
-Our products are based on our expertise in camera technologies for special environments.
-This camera is the first that can be used at depths of 60 feet.
-This is the only waterproof camera on the market with zoom capability.
-The form factor is very small and the camera is very light – critical for diving situations.
-It has current compatibility with any computer or digital photo printer.
-Only one cable is needed for printing or sending to a computer, making it more portable.
-Because of our expertise, we were able to keep the price at or below our competitors.
-It’s simple to use and adjust while underwater.
-The extra memory will allow filtering to be done underwater to remove excess blue.
-We test all of our products in the right environments, plus additional stress tests.

Here is a condensed marketing “story” for this product:

Taking great pictures while scuba diving has never been easy. Keeping one eye on your gauges, and the other eye focused through a blurry mask and a camera viewfinder on some undersea creature that’s coming at you at a hundred miles an hour with an evil grin is not an exercise for the timid. Well, now you can erase the “Jaws” soundtrack from your brain. At Poseidon Technologies, we develop advanced camera solutions that withstand the most brutal forces of nature. Our Amity 007 digital underwater camera is the first waterproof camera for use at depths of 60 feet. Sleek and light, you can slip it into the pocket of your BC or use the handy rugged wrist strap. Best of all, its zoom capability from 40 to 140 MM means that you can take pictures of Herbie the giant green eel from a safe distance or get a close-up of any circling dorsal fins. When you surface, your precious pictures can be printed directly on any printer or sent via email directly from the boat with our omni-cable. The Amity 007 is priced so that you can afford to continue those scuba expeditions to the Caribbean, safely viewing the underwater world and documenting your adventures to impress those back home.

Anchors aweigh and happy launching!

Catherine Kitcho
The Launch Doctor