Three Lessons for Stick-to-itiveness – Make Your Message Stick

posted in: Communication, Social Media | 4

What if your marketing message is an energizer bunny?Stick-to-itiveness of Marketing Message

What if it just keeps going and going and going … in minds and hearts of the target audience?

People would still have that connection at the time of making a buying decision.

It maximizes your returns from the time, budget and passion that you invest in your marketing and business development.

Here are my three lessons  to make your marketing message an energizer bunny –

  1. Give them a memory tip
  2. Have calls to action
  3. Invite their participation

Give them a memory tip

People have a lot of information to digest. A ton is being thrown at them from zillions of sources. It is too ambitious to expect them to remember it all.Memory Tip - Your marketing slogan or catch phrase

I got a very good nugget from the audio book that I listened to last week while driving – YES – from Noah J Goldstein, Steve J Martin and Robert B Cialdini. Give people a memory tip. Give them something to remember.
Have a slogan, that’s very effective. Or have a catchy phrase. Use your logo. And make sure it’s present in all of your messages, product packages and advertisements.

Think of your every interaction point with the target audience – website, direct face-to-face meetings, advertisements on the internet, TV, radio, newspaper or magazines, trade shows, workshops, surveys… etc.

And make sure to use the memory tip on all of them.

Calls to Actions

Malcolm Gladwell has one very insight in his book – Tipping Point – have people something specific to do. It helps in adding stickiness to your message – it helps you retaining their attention, and getting them to do something.

A few examples –

Are you going to a trade show? Design an activity, and have people come to your website to participate. It could be a survey, or downloading information, or redeeming a special offer…when you do that you will be able to get a lot more out of your investment in the trade shows.

Do you do direct mail campaign? Ask them to go to a landing page on the website, or your Facebook page.
Do advertise on search engines using sponsored links (pay-per-click – PPC), or display advertising? Keep your target audience in mind, and have a specific and clear call to action on your landing page.Tip to sustain your marketing message - invite participation from your audience

Invite their participation

Do you have consumer product or a service? Design a contest, a survey with a giveaway promotion maybe. Build your online community where people can share their experiences and ideas.

Or, is yours a B2B model? Set up discussion forum or support group where people can exchange ideas.

Get your customers and prospects to participate in your blog. Get them to join you on facebook, and build their interactivity. Once you do that you can build a very loyal following. It can also be an asset to try your new ideas.

4 Responses

  1. Chuck Bankoff
    | Reply

    Good observations Deven. I might add that “consistency of message” is also important. As a memory device it wouldn’t do Nike any good to switch from “Just do It!” to something else every year. That makes choosing a marketing slogan worth thinking about before implementing it hastily.

    • Deven Pravin Shah
      | Reply

      Thanks Chuck, great point on consistency.

      -Deven

  2. Gene Bonanno
    | Reply

    I think you are spot on recommending to your readers here Deven to always include calls to action with one’s marketing message. Even though the internet is getting older, many companies and individuals still forget to invite the reader to call a phone number, or fill out a contact form for more information. Having a good marketing message without this dilutes what one can expect to achieve. I find your blog to be very informative! Thanks for sharing all of this great information.

  3. Mic
    | Reply

    As with every sale you have to ask for the close of the deal – don’t forget that..
    Being specific with what you are asking for is good – I would had that one of the asks could be to spread the word – tell your friends

What are your thoughts?