Imperative 10: Avoid Anything Boring, Especially Clichés, the Anti-Brand! Most marketing-material suffers from one resounding malady: it’s boring. Really boring. And in this day of speed, dazzle, and information overload, that’s a fierce problem. With word use, whether in ads, TV spots, or newsletters, your greatest enemies are clichés. And trust me, everyone uses them [...]
Imperative 9: Consider the “Love at Fifth Sight” Principle Love at fifth sight should be the mantra of anyone producing marketing-material. Customers, especially prospective customers, probably won’t remember you the first time they see your brochure or ad, or even the second time. Maybe the third time, perhaps the fourth, but the fifth … now [...]
Imperative 8: Apply Font Savvy So many fonts, so little time to use them. They support the mood you want to express, injecting importance, emphasis, and visibility to your points. Of course, you could say: importance, emphasis, and visibility, but no matter.
Imperative 7: Use White Space Wisely White space does more than provide a break to the customer’s eye. It’s essential. Here are just a few benefits:
Imperative 6: Keep the Word Use Clear and Clean It may seem silly even to mention that your marketing-material should be well-written. Naturally, you think. Why state the obvious? But remarkably, most marketing-material is pretty bad. I’m not just referring to copy that small businesses with small budgets create; I mean everyone! The language wanders, [...]
Imperative 5: Use a Catch-and-Keep Approach A recent study led by Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, revealed a startling fact: the average person takes fifty milliseconds-that’s less time than it takes you to blink your eye-to form an opinion about a website. That’s an impression that sticks. The study said there’s a “halo effect” where [...]
Imperative 4: Accentuate the Customer Benefits In Imperative 3, I said your marketing effort must focus on the customers. Let’s add a caveat to that idea: it must focus on how they’ll benefit from your offering. Think about the old customer service concept. Sure, the customer service reps will help you every time you walk [...]
Imperative 3: Focus On the Customer-Not You, Your Business, Your Employees, or Anything Else Your customers don’t care about you. Or your employees. Or your business philosophy. Not even how many years you’ve been around. What they do care about is how all these matters affect them-what we call the customer-focus.
Imperative 2: Use Marketing Smarts! Business owners often produce marketing-material simply because everyone else does. Resist this impulse! Be smart about what you produce and how much time you devote to developing new material. Here are some pointers that will help:
Imperative 1: It Should Be Useful! Think of all the business cards you’ve received in your life. How many are there? Hundreds? Thousands? Now, think of all the cards you have scanned in your computer. Filed in your Rolodex. Kept anywhere in your office. How many is that? Twenty? Thirty? Less? And the brochures? How [...]
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