I recently came across a 1-day marketing course for a specific industry. My initial thought was how great to run such a niche workshop.
Then my heart sank as I read the content:
- Identify the 4P’s of marketing approached by Kotler
- Identify the components of the marketing mix and extended marketing mix….
- Use the marketing triangle as a logical and customer-centred approach to market your business
Watch your language
This reads more like an agenda for the seminars I used to attend whilst studying for my marketing qualifications. And a picky student would point out that the first two points are the same!
The delegates intended for this course are business owners who want to develop a marketing strategy, learn how to communicate effectively to their customers and grow their business by generating good quality enquiries. I’m not sure that the agenda would persuade them to take a precious day out of the office.
Before leaving the website, I looked at the testimonials and they were glowing. I’ve no doubt that the person running this workshop really knows their stuff and the business owners who attend get a lot of value from it, but the organisation promoting it has fallen into the classic trap of using technical language or industry jargon that is confusing or means very little to the person that it’s intended for.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes
A way to avoid this language faux pas is to always have a crystal clear image of your ideal customer in mind. As you write any marketing content, you can envisage chatting to them and won’t be tempted to use words and expressions that would draw a blank expression.
If you’ve not pinned down your ideal customer, download my eBook How to attract your ideal customer.
As you write for any marketing material remember:
- Who – who is your ideal customer
- What – what are their problems
- Why – why they should do business with you
Read all marketing content back to check:
- Your ideal customer can identify that you’re speaking to them (Who)
- You empathise with and have a good understanding of their problems (What)
- Describe the positive outcome your products and services deliver, reassuring that you’re the best person or company to purchase from (Why).
It’s also helpful to ask someone not from your industry to read your content. Does it make sense to them?
There’s no need to over complicate things!
The same rules apply if you are using LinkedIn as part of your marketing activities
If your LinkedIn profile isn’t set up with your ideal customer in mind, your posts and searches for prospects will not generate the enquiries you’re hoping for. Getting this right is all covered in my LinkedIn workshops.
If you want to get LinkedIn working for you, check out the next dates.
