Central to effective marketing is a message that speaks powerfully to the needs of your prospective clients. This message becomes the foundation of all your marketing - your business promise, or to use another phrase – your creative brief.
With the new year upon us, now is the time to plan your new marketing efforts, the Core Marketing Message is the platform for everything else – logo, web design, taglines, promos, direct mail, e-mail newsletters, sourcebook ads - all marketing strategies.
You need to maximize your resources and pinpoint your marketplace for your marketing to be effective. The first step is to go inward – establish an understanding of what you are selling, the value of your “product” and who should buy what you are selling.
Completing the following exercise will help you in creating your core marketing message. The first time you do the exercise just brainstorm – jot down ideas, things that come immediately to your mind. You can later go back and fine-tune your ideas.
Exercise:
Target Market: What clients do you serve? Give a detailed profile of your ideal client – basic facts such as geography, industry, values, characteristics, interests. This should be a focused segment of the marketplace. Think of this as your ideal client “wish list” – go for it, don’t hold back.
What Problem, Challenge, Issue, are your clients facing that would make them seek your assistance? List all problems, challenges, fears.
What Solution, Results, do you produce when working with clients? What do your clients expect to get as a result of working with you?
What Proof do you have that you can in fact deliver that Solution? References, Testimonials, case studies that make a strong case for your results.
Differentiation – what makes you stand apart from your competitors? What makes you unique, special, memorable? List keywords or phrases that communicate your value or brand.
Fortified with all this information you can now write a short description of your business – your creative brief – that clearly states what you do and who you wish to work with. Make certain you mention what makes you unique. Adopt a differentiation strategy – if a creative doesn’t perceive your brand as being different from your competitors you won’t win the marketing battle – it’s a battle of perceptions.
Whether you are aware of it or not you are also selling emotion – happiness, pride, joy, satisfaction, confidence, relief, piece of mind, etc. It is a big leap of faith for a client to decide to work with you. Having all your marketing deliver a concise, cohesive message reflects directly back on you and the perception of your brand – from business cards, letterhead, portfolio style, page layouts, web design, to the method of delivery, - consistency is an important strategy. Marketing materials communicate the face of your business, and you, to prospective clients and the rest of the community, so make certain they are telling the story you want to tell.
Consistent marketing and visibility puts you in the running for getting actual business. It should be reinforced over and over again, to build and strengthen your brand identity, and to give potential clients a clear reason to be interested in your business.
