Let’s say you have a rock-solid dynamic product or service. You know what your target demographic is and you’ve performed a psychographic analysis of them. Based on this, you know what media they pay attention to and have factored that in to your mix and budget.
Now, how do you get across to your intended target that this is the next best thing to sliced bread and that they need to get it now? Especially with the challenges of marketing today; with it being consumer driven and anti force-fed advertising.
That’s where effective communication of your marketing message comes into play. You have a story to tell about your product/service and regardless of what medias are chosen to transmit that message, it has to be done in a way that the consumer will openly receive it.
While crafting the marketing story keep in mind these 10 rules of effective communication from Frank Luntz’s book, Words That Work. The more of these that can be incorporated, the better the opportunity of consumer receptiveness.
01) Simplicity: Use small words
02) Brevity: Use short sentences
03) Credibility is as Important as Philosophy
04) Cosistency Matters
05) Novelty: Offer something new
06) Sound and Texture Matter
07) Speak Aspirationally
08) Visualize
09) Ask a Question
10) Provide Context and Explain Relevance
Luntz does political consulting, and regardless of what you may feel about the particular company he keeps, he does get results. So ask yourself if you can fail to heed his advice on this particular matter. Remember, your consumer target may not be exactly like you. Discovering how broad the base is for the product/service’s potential use determines the context of the message.
Obviously, you want the best return possible from your product/service, so you want to appeal to as many potential consumers as possible. Hence, the above list. The potential consumer may have a need for the product/service, but doesn’t realize it. They will continue this pattern of behavior if your marketing message does not connect to them.
Try these rules and see if your marketing message doesn’t increase its reach. (Bonus points if you can diffuse a negative like Global Warming by replacing it with Climate Change.)
Bradwest's Weblog 