Making Your Message Relevant

The answer: Not good at all

In order to fix this issue that many companies today now have, you must put yourself in the shoes of the consumer. When was the last time you were watching or reading a message from a business that wasn’t relevant at all to your needs? It happens pretty often doesn’t it? The message goes in one ear and right out the other.

Now try to remember a time when you were experiencing messaging that was completely relevant to your needs. It was a completely different experience wasn’t it? You were engaged. You found the message to be extremely informative, challenging… even inspirational. The message created an emotion inside you and made you want to take action. This is the goal of any good advertising, marketing or public relations campaign. It takes a little more for your message to be relevant in today’s world. There is so much out there, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that so-called “self-serving” marketing is just not very effective any more. Consumers are looking for something different, something that appeals to them individually. If a message doesn’t appeal to your audience, it isn’t relevant to them either.

So why is this important? Relevant messaging has a direct impact on your company’s brand. A poorly crafted message not only is a big waste of time and money, but it poorly reflects your company’s image. If your audience is ultimately confused by what you are trying to say, they won’t respond in a positive way. A message must be clear, concise and targeted to a specific audience.

How do we find this “specific audience?” One of the best strategies for finding the right audience is to create a buyer persona, a detailed profile about your buyers. This buyer persona would include both demographic information and key motivational qualities. What is motivating the buyer to make a purchase? Using this strategy, you’re able to collect all the information about your buyer that you know, allowing you to create a more meaningful message.

Another strategy, known as stage-specific marketing, involves identifying key questions that the buyer will need answered during each stage of the buying process. It is then necessary to provide your buyers with marketing content that answers these questions during these stages. This way, you’re able to provide potential customers with valuable information when they need it most.

Keeping all of these suggestions in mind, be sure to create a core message that is relevant to your specific audience. Remember, (1) you should establish who your customers are and (2) convey the right information to them at the right time. Finally (3) you can then create content for your various outlets: website, newsletter, twitter, etc. to help deliver your relevant message. With these steps, your message stands a much better chance of having an impact with the right people, and not just getting lost in the fold.