Doing the medium, market, message map – 2

campaign, content, Marketing, media, medium, messaging, single target market

In the previous post on this topic, I had given my views on why starting with the medium first is not a good idea. As a matter of fact a lot of people may give a lot of focus on the message also. No doubt creating the message (all kind of content) is a creative capability and requires skill but sending an amazing message to the wrong audience will be ineffective.

Let’s take a few examples, to showcase my logic.

Suppose you were selling lingerie but your database or list of people to whom you were sending the message was primarily men, there’s quite a big chance that the campaign would not be successful.

Suppose you were selling diet pills for men and your database primarily had women and lean men, would you be able to sell a lot of packages of your diet pills.

In both the the above examples you may have some success either because the amazing message you wrote got the spouses buying somethings or relatives buying something but it would not be what you are actually looking for.

On the other hand even a mediocre message to the right list will get a large response. This is not to underscore the importance of copy. It is however important to emphasize the importance of identifying clearly the single target market that you’re focusing on.

Hope I have been able to place my viewpoint clearly over the last 2 posts. I would to hear if there are any counter arguments that any of you have to the logic I have placed. Please list your comments below.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Doing the medium – market, message match

campaign, compelling, ideal customer, Marketing, medium, messaging, single target market

A lot of times I get to hear, we want to run a video campaign, or email campaign or we want to start a podcast. People start with the medium first, which in my opinion is the wrong sequence of actions. The first thing that need’s to be determined is the “market / ideal customer”. Where is the Single Target Market that you want to focus on. Once you have determined that piece then you figure out the messages / content you want to give to that audience and then you find the vehicle (the medium) to take that message / content.

Each message / piece of content, has a “job” (job of the milkshake , Clayton Christensen) to do. One message could be get the person to raise their hand, another could be to educate the prospects, some could be to compel the prospects to buy.

Now based on the message that you are trying to give out to your audience, you can choose the medium. Choosing a medium which the market does not access will be disastrous for your message and overall marketing plan.

As an example , if your audience is doing a lot of commute then a podcast or a video both could be good. But if you realise that within that audience which does commute there are people who commute on bicycles or drive cars then a video is not a good idea. A podcast could be a better idea. For example, I do a lot of commute, where I am driving my car. And giving me company are different podcasts, some of which I refer over here as well. If someone was to direct me to watch a video, to educate me while I was driving, I would not look at it and it would be a waste.

So when you choose to either do a campaign or plan an activity related to marketing, always start with the audience of one – see what is happening in the life of that one person from the Single Target Market that you defined, and then how you will reach out to her with whatever is the focus of the messaging that you intend.

Till next time then

Carpe Diem!!!

Simple steps to Creating continuous content for the B2B market

content, education, Marketing, messaging

One big question that I hear a lot of times, how do I create a regular messaging / content calendar; I don’t have enough content.

So this will be a very short post with a simple set of tactics to cover roughly half the year. If you don’t come across anything else during those 6 months which can be created into content, within the 6 months, then you can recycle this. Or I will give some other ideas also….read on.

I learnt this technique from Dean Jackson while taking one of his courses and listening to his podcast on ilovemarketing.com.

The assumption over here is that you know your market well, since you’re focusing on a Single Target Market at a time.

If you know your market well then you will know the typical questions that go on in the mind of the customer, their apprehensions and their aspirations. List down 20 of these questions. Make a response about what’s the best way to handle those questions as they relate to your offerings. Send out out one of these every week. You would then have a calendar decided for 20 weeks.

Then create 6 posts, where you analyse the 20 questions, customer feedbacks, comments etc. This way you would have created a calendar for the complete 6 months.

If after 6 months you don’t have content, then as I said earlier, you can recycle the same content or you could ask your some of your customers about what are the pet peeves that they have with your industry. If you have 10-12 customers and each of them has at least 2 unique issues with your industry , you have created roughly another 24-26 weeks of content, by taking their point of view and also giving suggestions to improve.

Your customers can give you all pointers to the content you will need , if you ask.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Messaging – how much is excess

B2B, education, education, follow-up, Marketing, messaging

“Won’t my prospect get irritated with me and unsubscribe” – this is one of the most common statements I hear when I tell people, that they should have a regular communication with their prospects and customers.

All your prospects and customers are in a state of a “moving parade”. So things keep changing for people all the time. And you don’t know when they may need what you sell. But when they need you, they should remember you first.

Now there will be somethings which are impulse purchases like a bottle of wine. Or small value items like a can of an aerated drink. Since the volume of transactions can be very high because of the spread of the decision making, you want to message more often. That’s the reason you see a Coke getting advertised multiple times a day. In the consumer space, you travel- international , less often, so you see airlines advertising less often.

In case of B2B, which is generally high value and less impulsive, you don’t advertise/message multiple times a day. But having said that, you need to keep messaging frequently – I generally recommend once a week. If not, at least twice a month. Anything less than this and chances are that you will float into oblivion.

The key in B2B is more about providing value. Finding ways to inform the customer, something new about what you offer – a new application, a new industry, a faster method, training for their employees. If you have segmented your market well, then you would typically know the kind of challenges that could take place, so providing education, value would be simpler. There can be a plethora of ways you can orient messages and multiple ways to get them delivered. Sometimes email, sometimes post cards, sometimes webinars.

If you keep adding value, then customers / prospects generally don’t mind receiving your mails and in a lot of cases may look forward to them. If some do unsubscribe, even after you are providing value / education, then its a good sign – because that person anyway would not have done business with you.

So don’t think in terms of excess, think in terms of value.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!