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Moving communication campaigns into action |
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Are you sure people know what your organisation actually does? Here is a back issue of Marketing Booster, the email newsletter that Richard Groom writes and sends free every fortnight to subscribers. You can subscribe here or read over 60 back issues using the back issues index page. I don't know about you, but: * I still meet people at networking events who don't explain what they do clearly enough. * I still see advertisements that don't really say what they are advertising - especially for business-to-business services. * And I still receive direct mail that leaves me confused about what the sender is offering. The shame about all of this is that it is VERY EASY to avoid making these mistakes. Yes, you read that right. For once in life, there's something that isn't difficult, isn't particularly time consuming and doesn't have to be very expensive. The problem happens because WE know what WE do and so we explain it in terms that WE understand. What we should be doing is thinking like people who have probably never heard of us and explain things in terms that THEY understand. The solution is to involve members of our target market. For example, a client of mine is running a focus group with people who are in the target market for a new service that is being launched soon. My client is going to show them the first draft of a brochure I have written that will publicise the service. I think this is an excellent thing to do. It will give us a chance to make sure we are explaining the service clearly before spending money on printing. The group is being run because my clients accept that they are 'too close' to the new service: they believe in it, but that doesn't mean we are communicating it clearly enough. Now, part of what I do is put myself in the customers' shoes for my clients and I am pretty good at explaining things in a clear way that their target audience will understand. But there is a second reason for doing some testing among the target audience itself: it provides a chance to test whether the product or service itself is likely to be successful. At the focus group, participants will be asked how they would value the service. Is it something they would be interested in? Are there any additions they would like to see? How much would they be prepared to pay? That information will help my client to develop the service itself before launch. If you are committed to producing clear and effective marketing communications then you will make the time and resources to test your materials before publication. If you are a sole trader or a small company, you should be able to ask some of your networking contacts and associates to help you out. Offer to do the same for them too. If you work for a larger company, you can run focus groups yourself or ask market research specialists to do it on your behalf. Something else you need to take care of to tackle the same problem . . . If you write your company's marketing materials you have to learn how to 'hop the fence' from your side to the side where your potential clients live. Use the tips I've written on my web site and those available elsewhere to help you write the most effective marketing materials possible. Copyright 2004 Richard Groom |