If you’re sick of blending in and getting overlooked. If you’re not seeing the growth in customer numbers and sales that you want. If you’re struggling to stand out and captivate your audience’s attention, then this episode is for you. Today we’re talking about what you need to do to create the most powerful key marketing messages around, so that your business gets people’s attention, makes it so much easier to sell, and provides the solid foundation on which you base all of your marketing and communication.
The reason that most businesses don’t stand out and grow to reach their potential is because they don’t know how to talk about their business in a way that connects, engages and compels people to act. They say what they think will work, without truly understanding that there’s a formula behind every brilliantly successful brand message.
There’s no reason why small businesses should miss out on being able to implement the strategies that bigger businesses use so successfully to grow just because they don’t have big budgets. I want to see you reach your potential and grow your business.
In this episode you’ll hear:
- Why most small businesses struggle to stand out and communicate their true value and the effect it’s having on your business
- The single easiest way to attract attention and captivate your audience
- What goes into making powerful key marketing messages that will grow your business like never before
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Podcast Transcript
Nicci O’Mara
The average person is bombarded with around 5000 marketing messages every single day, so there’s no wonder the majority of small businesses fail to get people’s attention because they blend in and get overlooked, even if what they sell is the most incredible thing around. So today we’re going to be talking about what’s keeping you in the shadows and what you can do to stand out and attract more customers.
The Simply Standout Marketing Podcast is for you, the small business owner, wanting to supercharge your marketing with simple, actionable strategies and inspiration so you can smash your goals and grow your business.
Now it’s your turn to discover what actions to take to make your business truly stand out and succeed. Let’s get started. I’m Nicci O’Mara, your host of the Simply Standout Marketing podcast and long time marketing communications strategist and messaging expert. Today, I’m on a mission to help you take another step towards attracting more customers for massive growth. The reality is that most small businesses struggle to stand out and communicate their true value, leaving them playing small with only minimal growth.
Where my super power lies is in helping small businesses like yours create powerful messaging that captivate your audience and sets you apart from your competitors so you can grow your business with more customers, more sales and greater impact. The reason that most businesses don’t stand out and succeed is because they don’t know how to talk about their business in a way that captivates people’s attention. They say what they think will work without truly understanding that there’s a formula behind every brilliantly successful brand message.
When someone comes up to you and says, what does your business do? What do you say? Most business owners and their employees would answer something along the lines of we design organic kids clothing, we a family law firm specialising in divorce or we run fitness classes for moms and babies. In saying that, do you think they’ve captivated the person’s attention? Are they now thinking this could be great for me? I need to find out more? Or my best friend would love this. I’ll have to text them the Web address. Or are they thinking, oh, that’s nice, then move on.
The trouble is, we’re constantly bombarded with information and only the best stands out messaging is absolutely everywhere. From labels on our food, clothes, toiletries and sporting equipment to ads on the radio, magazines, on buses, subways, shopfronts and even in your mailbox. And that’s all before you even venture online. Once you’re online, it’s messaging overload.
Thankfully, our brains are so incredibly adept at dealing with all the words, images, sounds and smells thrown at us each and every day, because if we notice even half of what we encounter daily, we’d go crazy. When it comes to filtering marketing messages and making buying decisions, our brains work primarily on a subconscious level to only show us the messages that trigger a certain response. So if your brand’s message appeals to a customer’s subconscious need, such as a need for power, love, freedom, knowledge, security, and it elicits the right emotion, it can influence their behaviour.
That’s why companies see such great success when they understand the internal problems, the feelings and emotions that their customers experience. And they use this in their marketing together with addressing the external problem. A brand can have the best product or service around. But if it doesn’t speak your audience’s language, if you’re not speaking to them with the words and fears and doubts and transformation that your people are looking for, then they’re not going to pay any attention to you.
Even if you have the perfect solution, your messaging needs to stop them, hook them, then draw them in. So what exactly am I talking about? When I say brand messaging, I’m talking about the key messages that are the first thing you see on your website home page. The words you tell someone when they ask you what you do, the words on your signage, labels, promotional material, social media, and anywhere else your brand is visible.
Your brand messaging is the foundation of all your marketing and communication. It’s the word you used to communicate who you are, what you do, your value, your unique selling points, and the problem solutions and results your audience achieves. And all of this information is bundled into just a couple of carefully crafted sentences that help you to stand out and influence your audience to pay attention. If you want to attract and captivate your audience, you need to create key messages that are memorable, compelling and really clear, they should work to highlight what you stand for and what differentiates you from the competition.
It’s what you want your customers to hear over and over again in all of your marketing and communication, so it embeds in their mind. They need to be relevant, engaging and refreshed regularly. And most importantly, you can leave the fancy words at home because your brand messaging needs to be crystal clear, so there’s no ambiguity, and it needs to be concise because less words are far more effective.
Your brand message is all about your customer, not about you. It tells their story, not yours, because at the end of the day, you’re targeting your customer, not yourself. This isn’t a vanity project to tell the world how good you are at your job or how great your product is. This is about your customer having a problem that produces both external and internal pain. This problem causes them to have certain emotions or feelings which are often more of a driver to find a solution than the external consequences they’re experiencing.
Without a problem. People don’t need a solution, which means they’re not looking to purchase. Your messaging needs to be about the transformation or result your audience can achieve through buying from you. What does successfully solving this problem look and feel like? What does it mean to them? Will they be able to run a marathon, walk down the aisle, stress free, experience less pain, have a confident child or the kitchen they always dreamed of? Your messaging also needs to consider what objections or misconceptions your audience might have buying from you.
Do they think you’re too expensive because they don’t understand the value you provide or your differentiation? Maybe it’s trust because they’ve been burnt before, or maybe they don’t believe they’ll get the results they want. Your messaging needs to answer the question of why you? How does your business get them the result they want in the way that they want it? People are always looking for a better way to do things. So how do you solve their problem in a unique way?
What are the problems they have with your industry and your competitors, do you provide more convenience, faster turnaround, incredible customer service? Do you provide less pain, more fun? Are you on trend, increased comfort, less downtime? And the list goes on. So that you can see how this all fits together, let’s create a few examples. Let’s consider what a deli owner might say when asked what do they do? Most would answer something along the lines of I own a gourmet deli in this town.
Or they may have gone a bit further and said, I own a gourmet deli that specialises in preprepared meals. Has that grabbed your attention? I captivated you to want more? Most would say no. Instead, what if they said something along the lines of most working parents are struggling to find the time to cook healthy meals for their family?Every night, our chefs create gourmet pre-prepared meals the whole family will love so that you can spend more time enjoying family life whilst knowing that you’re eating healthy food.
Which one would grab your attention more? People’s minds are wired to survive, so they’re always looking to solve a problem. The first example tells you the basics, but in no way differentiates you from every other deli that does the same. The second message identifies who your audiences is, what problem they have, the solution and the transformation. Here’s another example. Which one of these would grab your attention? If someone said to you, I’m an in-house dog trainer, or if they said many new dog owners are concerned their puppy will destroy their belongings, we provide training and help you set up your home so that you can enjoy the love of a new puppy without chew marks on everything.
How much more attention grabbing is that one? If you’re their target audience, a brand message like that will have you wanting more every single time. Now, when it comes to your marketing, you do have two options. You can leave your brand messaging as it is, work your butt off and spend loads of money on all the right things and still only gain moderate success. Or you can make it easier on yourself in less time with bigger growth by getting your brand messaging right and working on it. You work out the best way to talk about your products and services that are going to attract the right people, captivate them and keep them coming back for more.
You want people to be saying that’s me you’re talking to, you are exactly what I need. And once your messaging is right, then you add it to your marketing activities and let it do its magic. Look, no doubt you’re wondering where to start and how to successfully develop brand messaging for your specific business.
Well, there’s an amazingly effective formula I’ve used and perfected over the last 25 years, but it’s not as simple as handing over a piece of paper and you magically can work it all out on your own. This is why I’ve decided to run workshops that not only teach you how to create captivating and clear messaging for your business, but also to give you feedback on what you come up with, with the option of learning online or in small group in-person workshops.
There’s no reason why small businesses should miss out on being able to implement the strategies that bigger businesses use so successfully to grow, just because they don’t have big budgets. I want to see you reach your potential and grow your business. So if you’re interested, head to simplystandoutmarketing.com/workshops to learn more about how my messaging workshops can transform your business. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope I’ve got you thinking and ready to take action to make you stand out and earn more.
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