Creating effective marketing communications is challenging as it’s not an exact science.
Whether you are communicating with customers through email marketing, social media, marketing campaigns or content marketing like blog posts, considering the following characteristics can make you more effective.
- Be relevant
The first step of this process is to identify your BEST customers (your target audience), and the second step is making sure that you are relevant to this customer group. Understand your customer and what is important to them, then you can target your marketing message. If there is nothing in it for your customer, then the message is not relevant for them.
- Have a single-minded message
The human brain is comprehending multiple messages every moment so will often discard complicated messages. A successful communication will present one message backed by information that needs to be communicated to give your offer credibility.
- Repeat, repeat and repeat again
Repetition breeds familiarity and will influence a preference when it comes time to purchase. Studies on frequency suggest between 10-20 exposures will reach the maximum familiarity necessary. But be careful of over-exposure, as anything over that and it could have a negative effect on your brand.
- Be a relatable human
People have a deep-seated need for connection. We want to know that we are not the only ones that have experienced the good and bad times. By making your brand and product/service relatable you are tapping into that need for connection. Be empathetic, share experiences and become a part of people’s stories.
- Authenticity is key
Being real in your communications helps to build trust with your customers. So, write about what’s important to you, and what your values are. By sharing a piece of yourself with customers it will help them to understand who you are.
- Cut through the noise
It is important to make your message memorable. The human brain doesn’t remember facts and figures as well as it remembers stories. If you can tell a story about your product or service, it is much more likely to be remembered than the specific technical features.
Story telling starts with considering the benefits of your product from your customer’s perspective and understanding your customer and their motivations.
- The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing
Being happy and having fun are two emotions that people strive to feel regularly. Creating entertaining communications will tap into these emotions and will also mean that the reader doesn’t realise they are being marketed to.
This is why social media and digital marketing is popular. And why YouTube is now the most popular channel in NZ (NZ on Air Where Are the Audiences survey).
- Create a deep connection through emotion
People rely more on emotions than on information to make decisions. The final choice is likely to be made based on how the product or service makes them feel.
The basic emotions that marketers tap into are happiness, sadness, anger or fear. Using emotive language in an appropriate way helps your customers to relate to you and your business. It can create a deep connection between you and your audience.
The key to implementing these 8 characteristics successfully is to plan your communications across all your marketing channels. It’s not possible to include all of these characteristics in a single message so planning will ensure that you include them over a range of multiple communications. And make sure you continue to refine your messages and communications by reviewing what has been successful.
To learn about how Teresa helps her clients, you can find her here: https://maxmarketing.co.nz/our-team/teresa-maaelopa/
