Successful marketing is simply delivering the right message, to the right people, at the right time, with the right invitation or offer.
Mastering the right message is simple and complex at the same time.
When you live and breathe your product day-in-day-out it’s easy to forget that not everyone knows as much about your product as you do.
Having a solid message helps to make your brand – and product – stand out from your competition. Your competition includes the back button, by the way. But if your messaging is diluted or unclear, customers won’t have a compelling reason to buy from you.
So, there are two levels of messaging you need to clarify.
- The first is product messaging.
- The second is brand messaging.
Product messaging is about the benefits, features and transformation people will get once they buy your product.
Brand messaging is why buy that product from you and not someone else. It’s all about your values, what you stand for and how you make the world a better place.
Think about this: Shopping online is all about making decisions.
When people buy from a physical shop they can use all of their senses to experience the product and get a good idea if they like and want it — or if they don’t. Plus they have a shop assistant whose sole purpose is to assist them in their decision.
People don’t have this same experience through their computer screen. Â
When shopping online, humans making decisions in 3 ways. They know, think or feel into the decision.
We call these knowers, thinkers and feelers.
Knowers use their intuition to make a decision and they usually make it pretty quickly. Knowers just know and they probably use a combination of factors that thinkers and feelers do.
Thinkers use their logical brain to make a decision. Thinkers need information, stats, evidence and proof.
Feelers use their emotions and how something makes them feel. Feelers need images and language that evoke emotions.
Have you ever been to a website that is all information and statistics and has no images or story telling? Betcha that was designed by a thinker.  Or one that’s nice and fluffy but doesn’t really have any info. That business owner would be a feeler.
But your customers are going to be a combination of knowers, thinkers and feelers. So we sprinkling elements for thinkers and feelers throughout all of your messaging.
Let’s look at some examples from brands who just get messaging:
Scratch are interrupting the dog food market with clear messaging. Great example of crystal clear communication through their words and images.
Who gives a crap just get it. It’s clear what they sell and why you should spend your dollar with them instead of buying an alternative.
When we first saw Bellelis, we thought they sold bodysuits. Their messaging was a little unclear. But by communicating what they sell and who it’s for through their copy and images, people can now tell what they sell and give them money! Notice the use of emotive images, explainer text and diagrams; the perfect combo of info for the thinker and feelers.
There is one more element that you are going to sprinkle into every touchpoint of your marketing. Trust
Because you’re selling online it’s really important to build trust.
The biggest barrier when it comes to online shopping is — you guessed it — trust.
People need to trust that the product is good, they will get what is promised, it will arrive on time, and they can return it easily if they don’t like it.
It’s easy to forget that customers need to constantly be given reason to trust your brand and take that leap of faith to make a purchase.
So as you dive into your messaging, remember not everyone knows as much about your brand and products as you do.
Put on the hat of someone completely new to your brand.
What would they want to know?
