Create a Marketing Message That Brings In Clients

70% of all start-up entrepreneurs have no business education. That's right, none. No Bachelors in Business Administration, MBA or even experience from their working career of having run a business before.

So for those of you who have never had formal training in marketing, let's look at how you can use proven marketing principles to significantly increase the effectiveness of your advertising and overall marketing message.

Selling your services is all about presenting a message (your tag-line, slogan, ad/brochure headlines and body text) to the people who might hire you (your market). Without your message all you have is the a picture, a graphic, your office, or just you for people to see and think about when deciding to buy. The image these things present are all important (we'll discuss this in a future article), but less important than the message that you're presenting. Research has shown that changing your message, and your message alone, to adhere to certain principles can improve sales by up to 400%. What are these principles? I thought you'd never ask.

Strong, Obvious Benefit

Make sure that you start with a strong obvious benefit.

We've all heard (at least I hope you have) that the best marketing uses the benefits of the product or service rather than the features as selling points. But, what's different about this is that the ad headline, and text that immediately follows, should contain no more than two benefits, each of which should be as simple, strong and obvious as possible. Doing this alone will improve the response you'll receive from the piece. Example: "Let Our Proven Experience Win Fair Compensation for Your Injuries!"

Credibility

Fill the remainder of the piece with reasons that the reader can believe that you can deliver on the promised benefit.

Trust is the second most important factor in a potential clients hiring decision. (Perceived benefit being the first.) If you can't convince your prospective client that you can be trusted to deliver on your promised benefit, then your chance of a getting hired goes down dramatically. There are a number of different ways that you can establish that trust. This is where you tout your experience, bar affiliations, special training, pedigree, or perhaps your unique approach to case handling. There is virtually no limit to the number of reasons to believe you can give them, so don't be shy. This is where the selling is done, but always think in terms of "Why should they believe I can win for them?".

Differentiation

Be different!

You've probably heard of the concept of product differentiation. Whether it's the product, service or company itself, the message has to convey that you are somehow different from everyone else for two important reasons: 1. That's how you get noticed. The human brain is wired to notice things that are different, and ignore everything else. If it didn't, everyone would quickly go insane from over-stimulation. You want to get noticed right? 2. If you're just like everyone else then they will decide based upon whose ad is prettier or who's closest etc. Give them a real reason to use you and don't be afraid to stand out.

The combination of your obvious benefit and your reason to believe should together create an appearance of differentiation. If the two together don't add up to a powerful difference, go back to the drawing board and rework the obvious benefit and reason to believe until the cumulative difference is bigger than you would think it needs to be. Because the bigger it is, the more effective your message will be.

Conclusion

When you tie these marketing principles together with the strategy outlined in my first article, you have the foundation for a highly successful and profitable firm. Apply these concepts to your own marketing message, and see your response shoot up and increased fees should follow right along.

Shawn Davis

If you have any questions about these ideas please email me at sdavis@Archi-TECH-turetech.com or call me directly at (312) 698-9033.

Further reading: Jump Start Your Business Brain, Doug Hall, Brain Brew Books.