March 2011

Once you have your idea in mind and the right staff in place, you're ready to begin working on your message. In the next installment, we'll talk about the message and the medium to get your brand "installed" into your customers' and prospects' minds.

Since we last “talked”, you’ve probably been hard at work letting people go and hiring people to make sure your crack team of staff is just right. Right?

Now we’ll launch into the message and the medium. You’ve probably heard it before, but the message is vastly more important that the medium. It doesn’t matter if you reach every person on earth, if you say “We have great, affordable shirts!!” and forget to include the R, you will not sell many shirts.

In reality, the right and wrong message is a little more complex than that. Ultimately though, your message needs to say who you are and why your prospects should buy from you. It should be clear to your prospects as they see, read or hear your advertisement, what advantage your product or service will have for them and why they cannot live without it.

When reading your message, try to put yourself into your prospects’ shoes. Ask yourself, why is this important to me? In the example above, assuming we spelled shirts correctly, we ask ourselves this question. What do great, affordable shirts mean to anyone? Well, perhaps it means they can buy more shirts than before. Maybe it means they can improve their bottom line. What does that mean to them? Perhaps it means they can look good for their boss or put more money in their pocket.

So perhaps we change the message to read “put more money in your pocket when you pick up the hot new BigBrandName shirt at Dakota Lettering.” Or we could say “Get the raise you deserve when you cut you’re your budget by 15 percent!” These are not completely thought through and finished, but we don’t have four days to go into the details. The point is that you should spend a fair amount of time focusing on what message you want to put out there and what it actually means to your customers and prospects.

Once you have your message, you have to decide where you will broadcast it for people to see, read and hear. There are many avenues these days, from social media to digital media to the traditional media. The key here is to focus your budget on one area. Make sure you can saturate that area. So many people spend in ten different directions and never get any results.

Be consistent and deliberate. Find out where your customers and prospects are and what they’re focused on and put your message there. If your customers are newly weds, then advertise in the bridal books, magazines and shows. Get there early! Maybe you could even contact a dress shop and advertise in their store – maybe in the dressing room on the wall. Think about this: There is no competition, there are only minor distractions and the party spends several hours in there. You’re not only hitting the bride-to-be, but you’re speaking to her bridesmaids, some of whom are possibly not yet married.

I could get carried away with this section and this is the most intriguing decision to me. Where can you reach your customers and prospects where no one else is? If you have any good stories, send them in. If you want to get some great ideas, give me a call or drop me an email!

APRIL 2011

By this point you should have a very good idea of the brand image you want and hopefully you have a staff that understands the brand concept and is willing and able to reinforce it. This month, we'll talk about your brand message and the medium. What is the message and how do you convey that to your prospects and customers? How do you even reach your prospects and customers?

Since we last “talked”, you’ve probably been hard at work letting people go and hiring people to make sure your crack team of staff is just right. Right?

Now we’ll launch into the message and the medium. You’ve probably heard it before, but the message is vastly more important that the medium. It doesn’t matter if you reach every person on earth, if you say “We have great, affordable shirts!!” and forget to include the R, you will not sell many shirts.

In reality, the right and wrong message is a little more complex than that. Ultimately though, your message needs to say who you are and why your prospects should buy from you. It should be clear to your prospects as they see, read or hear your advertisement, what advantage your product or service will have for them and why they cannot live without it.

When reading your message, try to put yourself into your prospects’ shoes. Ask yourself, why is this important to me? In the example above, assuming we spelled shirts correctly, we ask ourselves this question. What do great, affordable shirts mean to anyone? Well, perhaps it means they can buy more shirts than before. Maybe it means they can improve their bottom line. What does that mean to them? Perhaps it means they can look good for their boss or put more money in their pocket.

So perhaps we change the message to read “put more money in your pocket when you pick up the hot new BigBrandName shirt at Dakota Lettering.” Or we could say “Get the raise you deserve when you cut you’re your budget by 15 percent!” These are not completely thought through and finished, but we don’t have four days to go into the details. The point is that you should spend a fair amount of time focusing on what message you want to put out there and what it actually means to your customers and prospects.

Once you have your message, you have to decide where you will broadcast it for people to see, read and hear. There are many avenues these days, from social media to digital media to the traditional media. The key here is to focus your budget on one area. Make sure you can saturate that area. So many people spend in ten different directions and never get any results.

Be consistent and deliberate. Find out where your customers and prospects are and what they’re focused on and put your message there. If your customers are newly weds, then advertise in the bridal books, magazines and shows. Get there early! Maybe you could even contact a dress shop and advertise in their store – maybe in the dressing room on the wall. Think about this: There is no competition, there are only minor distractions and the party spends several hours in there. You’re not only hitting the bride-to-be, but you’re speaking to her bridesmaids, some of whom are possibly not yet married.

I could get carried away with media selection and this is the most intriguing part of the decision to me. Where can you reach your customers and prospects where no one else is? If you can find the answer to this question, you will make money money, make money money, make money!