We’re almost done dissecting the Smart Marketing Formula. This is the third of four articles explaining how the formula works.
This article will focus on the “M” in the Smart Marketing Formula which stands for Marketing Activities, Message and Market. In our formula, “M” represents everything you do to create and deliver your message to your market.
Let’s break this down and look at the pieces.
Your message is what you want to tell your customers and potential customers. The heart of your message should be about what you do for your customers. It should tell them how you help them in the context of your product or service.
There are several aspects to your message. One is more direct and tells people literally what you do (your service of product). The other tells people what you do for them. In other words, how you help them.
For instance, if you’re a chiropractor, maybe you help them get rid of pain. If you’re a veterinarian, you help them care for their pets. If you run a restaurant, you provide a way for people to relax, enjoy each other’s company and avoid a messy kitchen.
So, think about how you help your customers have a better life. Think about how you help them accomplish what they want to accomplish. Then work those ideas into your message.
Over time, you’ll use different messages. As you learn more about what your customers want from you, use that information in your message. And you’ll try different messages and different wording until you find what works well enough to continue.
The next pieces of “M” are your marketing activities. These are anything you do to deliver your message to your market. They could be advertising, public relations, email, direct mail, web sites, networking, telemarketing or cold-calling. Marketing activities could also include edu-marketing by doing things like writing articles, offering seminars, publishing white papers, blogs, podcasts or even videos.
Anything your company does to help people know what you do and how you might help them is a marketing activity. So, be creative and find new ways to get your message to the right people.
The third part of the “M” in our formula is your Market. These are people who fit two criteria.
First, they want what you can do for them (as defined in your message). This is logical. You want to market to people who want the service or product you sell. But your customer loyalty will be much higher if your customers also want the outcomes you can help them achieve.
Put another way, you can sell features or benefits (or both). Your business will be stronger if you know what benefits (outcomes) you offer and your customers are looking for those benefits.
Second, they are people whom you can serve better than anyone else.
This is critical if you want your company to be sustainable. It means you pick your customers wisely. It means you need to know the difference between people you can serve very well and those you can’t.
Essentially this means you can’t be all things to all people. It sounds logical but too many companies focus on quantity rather than quality when it comes to attracting new customers. When you do that you risk losing customers to your competition and you risk eroding your profit margin.
When you focus on customers you can serve better than anyone else, you are able to be more efficient and more effective. Plus you can probably charge a higher price because you’re providing top-quality service. So, you enjoy much healthier profit margins.
Other articles you might like:
- The Smart Marketing Formula – Part 1
- The Smart Marketing Formula – Part 2
- Forget Who Your Customers Are. Focus on What They Want.
- Apple’s iPhone Blunder
- The Content IS the Marketing
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