June 01, 2008
The 5M’s of Marketing Part 2 – Getting the message right
Welcome to this month’s edition of marketing magic, where we will discuss how to create an effective marketing message.
If you remember back to last month’s issue of Marketing Magic, we introduced the 5 big M’s of Marketing for the first time and in particular focused our attention towards identifying your target market. This is arguably the most important step because until you properly understand your target market, you will not be able to create an effective targeted campaign to influence them. If you haven’t read last month’s issue or would like a refresher I encourage you to visit it now. Click here
A quick summary of the 5 M’s of marketing
- The market – who are you targeting?
- The message – what are you promoting?
- The media – what resources are you using to promote your message?
- The method – how are you delivering the message?
- The measures – how are you measuring the effectiveness of your campaign?
In this month’s Marketing Magic Ezine we are going turn our attention towards the second of the 5M’s of marketing and look at what to consider when you are creating your marketing message.
How to create the right message
The message is a very important part of any marketing campaign and whilst most businesses have a general understanding on what ‘message’ they want to deliver when they start a marketing campaign, it is important to understand that it is one thing to get the right message, and another to get the message right!
The key to creating a successful marketing message is not just developing the right message but delivering it in a way that is appealing to your intended audience. To start with, we will review getting the right message and then we’ll come back to discuss getting the message right.
Getting the right message
The first step to getting the right message is in understanding what you are trying to promote. Are you trying to promote a product, a business, a presentation? Whilst most networkers will generally reply ‘all of the above’ it is important to understand that you might need to create a different marketing approach for each of these 3 aspects. Let’s be realistic, there are plenty of people in this world who will not be interested in your business opportunity, but you’d be surprised how many of these same people will be willing to buy your products. If you try to market only to those who are interested both in a business and your products, you are missing out on a huge market potential.
The next thing you need to consider is what action you want your intended audience to take after being exposure to your message, eg contact you, buy something etc
Whilst we have generally been discussing the 5M’s of marketing, at this point you might also want to consider the 5W’s to create a desired response.
Who, Will do, What, Where, When,… and, by the way, Why?
A quick time out for another valuable lesson in marketingMarketing experts will tell you that a good marketing campaign does not try to sell a want/need/desire, instead they offer a solution for a want/need/desire that already exists. In business we don’t create a want/need/desire we simply have to develop a strategy to respond to what is already there. |
Two other things worth considering when developing a marketing message is the cost / value ratio of your product / services and its accessibility.
Cost / Value Ratio
Cost / Value ratio doesn’t just take into consideration the monetary cost of your product / service it also considers the effort required to gain value from it (eg time, travel etc). For example, your local corner shop is generally more expensive than the big brand supermarkets, but if you’re only going to buy milk, the cost / value ratio tends to lean in favour of your local corner shop when you take into consideration travel time, parking, que waiting times, customer service, convenience etc. Essentially what we are trying to say is: what makes your product / service have a good cost / value ratio?
Marketing ActivityWrite down all the things that contribute to the cost / value ratio of your product / service. Try to be unbiased, and list both the positives and negatives. You might like others to contribute to your list so that you can gain another perspective. |
Product accessibility
Accessibility of your product / service is also a very marketable factor. The more conveniently your product / service is placed, the greater the chance of making a sale. An onsite vending machine, for example, can make a food product conveniently located near your target market. One way that network marketing companies have tried to make their products more accessible is through direct selling (and changing orders) over the internet and home delivery, making it very convenient.
Creating the ideal marketing message?
Putting all this together your marketing message should essentially address the following statement:
We have a great product / service in response to your need / want / desire at a wonderful cost / value ratio which is easily accessible.
Now, obviously you don’t have to say it like that, but this is essentially what you want your target audience to be thinking.
Now that we understand the message, the next criteria is getting the message right (how you should say it).
Getting the message right
Creating the right message is only half of the marketing message criteria. You can have the best product and the best marketing message, but unless it is delivered in a fashion that is appealing to your target audience it is unlikely to deliver results. This is why understanding your target audience is so important. Last month we set you a challenge to learn as much about your target market as possible. It’s now time to put that research to good use (or alternatively go back to complete this important step now. Click here).
Using your target market research, your goal is now to tweak your message such that you say it in a fashion that is appealing to them – getting the message right.
Enough reading for now, let’s look at a practical example. Follow the link below to review a brief TV commercial, following which I want you to answer a few questions. Incidentally we have purposely chosen a public health campaign that will not try to sell you anything so as not to be seen to be taking advantage of our subscribers. View Video
Be sure to come back when you are done to finish the newsletter.
To gain most from this exercise it is best if I give you a little bit of background behind this advertising campaign. The majority of speeding offenses and road traffic accidents in Australia involve young male drivers. Additionally, over the past few years there has been a reported increase in the incidence of ‘hoon driving’ behaviour. This marketing campaign was very clever in the way that it used the little pinkie gesture as a method to attack the male ego. For those people who aren’t Australian or understand the relevance of the little pinkie gesture, it basically refers to the males you know what! By making this gesture you are suggesting that the intended party has a small know what! and therefore you have to try and make up for it in other ways. This marketing campaign has been a huge success, to the point where the little pinkie gesture is now used by everyday people in the street who witness young drivers trying to show off, immediately putting them back in their place.
Prior to this marketing campaign a number of marketing strategies had been used to deliver the same message around safe driving but did not have the same impact. Whilst previous campaigns had the right message, because that message wasn’t delivered in a fashion that was appealing to the target audience it had less of an impact. What made this particular marketing campaign successful is not only did they understand what message they wanted to deliver, they managed to deliver it in a way that was appealing to the target audience – they got the message right!
Incidentally, in February 2008, this advertising campaign was awarded ‘Campaign of the Year Award’ at the Australian National AdNews awards. Furthermore, 61 per cent of young males surveyed believe the campaign was powerful enough to make them think about their own driving behaviour.
Whilst this particular marketing campaign carries a public health message which some people might say is irrelevant to network marketing, the value we hope you gain from this example is that it supports the underlying concept of this month’s Ezine – it is one thing to get the right message it is another to get the message right.
Even the biggest and most successful companies make mistakes.
It was only in this past month that one of the biggest and most successful network marketing companies in the world contacted our team at Network Marketing Business School for advice after they were experiencing poor sales from one of their new products. Whilst there market research was flawless and the product itself has huge potential, it has struggled to take off. When we had a chance to review the product and the marketing strategy it soon became apparent that the marketing department had left the marketing of this new product up to the science department because the marketing department didn’t fully understand the science behind it. While the marketing department knew little about medical research it was also apparent that the science department knew very little about marketing. The product and the marketing message was too complex for the majority of consumers to understand and therefore they weren’t interested. As a result of our consultation the company is now trying to simplify their product and develop a new marketing strategy, we are excited to see what they come up with, so watch this space!
Putting all this together
When developing your marketing strategy, and in particular the message you want to deliver, the first step is to understand what you are trying to say. The next step is then to dress your message in a fashion that is appealing to your target market, which involves going back to your target market research. The final step to throw into the mix before you mass produce your marketing message is that you need to test it on a sample of your target market population to ensure that it is being received and interpreted in the way which you intended. Remember, one of the biggest marketing mistakes you can make is to base your campaign on assumptions. You should always test your message first as it will save you a lot of frustration in the long run. You will be surprised how just a little bit of target market testing can help you to tweak your message such that it turns a good campaign into a great campaign that delivers results. Good luck!
In next month’s issue of Marketing Magic we will move on to discuss the next step in the 5M’s of marketing and look at what marketing media you should be using to deliver your message (eg brochure, poster etc).
As always send me your thoughts. Was this information helpful? Do you have any questions?
Wishing you and your business all the best.
Troy Rocavert
