Deliver quality message on range of platforms to reach target customers

Opinion

The foundation of your winning game plan is an intimate understanding of your primary customers. Leading companies know this and they develop a compelling value proposition based on these customer insights to create a valid reason for their customers to choose them over their competitors. Only then do they decide which tools to use to reach their current and potential customers with their unique value proposition.

Too often I see companies become enamored about exciting advertising or promotions tools without considering the foundation of a winning game plan.

We know that the quality of a message is critical to cut through the myriad of messages we receive each day. It must reflect your value proposition when you are making any public statements — in your advertising, on social media, on your web site, in conversations with your customers, and when people inquire about what you offer.

I am not going to talk specifically about developing your creative message here. Let’s assume you have created a compelling message. Howard Luck Gossage, ad legend from San Francisco famously said, “people will read something that interests them, and sometimes that is an ad.”

To help you build on the strength of your message, there is a process to distribute this quality message to reach an appropriate number of ears.

To stand out against your competitors you also need to total the number of ears you reach, and this is known as your “share of voice” for the category you are in. This share of voice is the number of your messages as a percentage of the total messages in your industry in a given market. You do not need to be precise in your calculation, however, you need to be confident that you have considered the various messaging platforms and tracked the approximate number of messages your industry has in a given market at any point in time.

It is also instructive for you to ensure your share of voice is commensurate with your share of the market. For example, if you currently have about 10 per cent of the market share in your industry, your promotional messages should total at least 10 per cent of the messages. This is your share of voice. If your share of voice is less than your market share, you run the risk of losing market share because your voice is not heard widely enough. If you want to grow your market share, you will need to increase your share of voice.

Another effective way to grow market share is to pay particular attention to your best customers — those that purchase your product or service with the most frequency. These heavy users are very important to the success of a business and you should take good care of them.

Why is this important? Well, if a good customer moves away, closes, or sells the business, etc., you have now lost a heavy user. Replacing a good customer takes time, and you begin the nurturing process when someone purchases from you for the first time. Bob Hoffman, the Ad Contrarian, said, “You don’t get them to try your product by convincing them to love your brand; you get them to love your brand by convincing them to try your product.” This insight describes the need to focus your messaging on changing behaviours not the attitudes of your target customers.

People are very unpredictable in their purchasing decisions. While we may have a favourite product that we “love,” if that product is not available and there is a similarly priced competitor, most consumers will purchase the other product. This holds true in consumer and business marketing because a person is making the purchasing decision in both cases.

Leading companies with a winning game plan understand these components and create a promotional mix that includes a compelling message delivered on a range of platforms to best reach their target customer. Then they develop a relationship of trust by delivering on their product and service promise to build long-term customers. So, my question is, “why don’t you?”

Tim’s Bits: How many companies that advertised on the recent Super Bowl do you remember? You may recall an ad, especially if it featured a celebrity, but you may not remember the product. And you may not have seen the ad on any platform since the game. In a sea of sameness, you want to stand out. Your messaging and where it is presented are required to showcase the unique value and benefit you provide for your customers. That’s a winning game plan.

Tim Kist is a Certified Management Consultant, authorized by law, and a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Manitoba.

tim@tk3consulting.ca