NCET Biz Tips: The New Year is Time to Polish Up That Story and Check Your Marketing
Ira Gostin
With the new year comes time to reevaluate your marketing strategy and tactics, and most importantly, time to check your messaging and your story. In business, your story is the most important tool you have. It’s also the cheapest and usually the most neglected.
When done right, small business marketing can be quite effective and help a company grow. However, when done improperly, businesses end up talking to themselves, not their customers. That catastrophic messaging failure leads to lost revenue.
Telling the story of your business should be well thought-out and well-crafted. Each word should have a specific purpose and each phrase should reflect the services you offer or the products you sell.
Imagine an auto repair facility that, over the years, has moved to specialize in only one specific make of foreign car but the signage, ads and messaging reflects all foreign cars. People will be upset pretty fast when they find out you are a niche provider and you don’t work on their particular make of car.
As your business’s chief storyteller, it’s important to take some time before or at the start of the year to see how your story and messaging resonates with your target audience.
One psychologist’s research has demonstrated that a story resonates 22 times more than facts or figures alone, which means that a well-crafted story cuts through all the noise to deliver an effective message.
Here are five steps to help you turn this storytelling task into something you look forward to every year.
1. First, schedule some time out of the office. Maybe it’s a cafe, or park or at home without distraction. Treat yourself to your favorite beverage and snacks and get comfy. For not only my business but for my clients, I always work on this during the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Print out some documents to help you get started: your elevator pitch, your “about” info from your website, your marketing message or just the description of your business that you use to describe what you do.
2. Who is your target audience? Are you marketing to the right people? If your customers are 20-year-olds and you are advertising on Facebook, you’re missing your mark. Your tactics aren’t speaking to your intended audience.
3. Think about your customers or clients. What makes them do business with you? What makes you special or unique? Write some key words and brief phrases on sticky notes and put them up on the wall. Are these the right words that resonate with your audience?
Connect with your customers by simply asking them what brings them back. While you’re at it, you might want to ask what you could offer to keep these customers even more happy. It’s always easier to grow an existing customer than to create one from scratch.
4. Look at your existing marketing materials and see if these words and phrases are still appropriate. Are you still using the same descriptions? Is it time to update, refresh or revitalize your descriptions? Are you still sending an outdated message?
In many situations I’ve found that owners and CEOs get so caught up in the day-to-day operations they forget to update these critical descriptions and messages.
5. Ask yourself if the direction of your business is the same as it used to be. Do you have new products or services? Has your philosophy changed? Do you have new goals? Has your call to action changed? Do you even have a call to action? Do you want them to call? Or just go to your website. If things have shifted, do you need to now pivot to meet the new demands of your customers?
At the end of the day, your message and your story are what differentiates your business from others. Use that story, your value proposition and your messaging to elevate your business to new heights and levels of success.
Learn about Storytelling and Your Business at NCET’s Biz Cafe on January 19, 2022. NCET is a member-supported nonprofit organization that produces educational and networking events to help people explore business and technology. More info at https://www.ncet.org/ncet-event-calendar/chief-storyteller
Ira M. Gostin, MBA, APR is the managing partner and chief strategist at G8 Strategies (www.g8strategies.com), with offices in Reno and New York City, providing investor relations, public relations and marketing to global industrial companies.