Marketing your small business: Choose your words carefully
When you write an advertisement, whether it’s for the newspaper, radio, or internet, you may want to tell people that your product is of high quality; that it’s a great value. You want them to know you have integrity. You are devoted to customer service, and you care about them deeply. Right?
Wrong! According to advertising executive Steve McKee of McKee WallWork in Cleveland, these words are so overused, they are basically meaningless and useless for getting your message across. While his recent article in Business Week titled, “Five Words to Never Use in an Ad,” doesn’t really address what you might say instead, I do have a suggestion.
Make the audience feel good about your product and what it can do for them. Find another way to say you care, and provide testimonials and a guarantee if you can.
June 12th, 2006 at 9:02 am
Joan,
I respectfully disagree with Mr. McKee. In this day and age where many businesses sell the same products - commodity markets - the only way to set your business apart from others is with things like excellent customer service, added value, 100 integrity, and sincere caring. I’m not saying that these words alone will set your company apart. But companies that can say they do all these things and practice what they preach and back up their words with actions … these words do mean something - IMHO. And I see nothing wrong with using them in marketing materials.
I work with many clients developing marketing plans, strategies, and campaigns and most are selling commodities. They can not survive as the lowest priced in the market. They survive by being the best at backing up the words Mr.McKee says we should not use. There is so much "customer no-service" in this world today that if we do provide it, and back up your claim that you do - you can build a reputation of excellent customer service and beneift greatly from this simple practice. The same holds true for bringing added value to your customers.
Sorry, but Mr. McKee sounds like a pessimist to me.
Thanks - R@
June 12th, 2006 at 6:46 pm
Thanks for your comment. I agree with him in the sense that people say the same old blah blah blah things. Make the point, but find a fresh approach is the message I take away from McKee’s article.
June 13th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
I’m very much in agreement with McKee. Working with many small business advertisers, I see the same "buzz words" being used over and over again. It’s often necessary to push business owners to set themselves apart from the competition, rather than just accepting the option of being another common "rodent" in the rat race. I was recently having difficulty stressing this to a client with a high-end cosmetic procedures business while redesigning her business image. The advertising terms she was using were very common and overused (as were the design elements). She’d been convinced in a "marketing seminar" to use the terms and tactics packaged and sold by an "expert." When I was able to convey that the same advertising words were being used by several auto body repair shops she finally "got it." She didn’t want to have her business compared to auto body "chop shops" and her high-income, intelligent and informed clientele expected more from her marketing and promotion. Her new image-focused advertising has been much more successful than previous efforts.
Jeff Fisher
Engineer of Creative Identity
Jeff Fisher LogoMotives
June 13th, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Good for you Jeff, it’s always a pleasure to find someone willing to get out of the box!
June 15th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
Hi Joan,
Maybe the most important thing for small business advertisers to consider is enliting the services of a creative writer/producer or msall agency to fashion their message. As someone who (currently) does this for a Major market radio station, I’m amazed at how many smaller business owners (Bars/Restaurants, Car Dealers, Spas, etc) insist on forcing their own copy and concepts on the air, simply because it’s their nickle. I try to tell some clients who ignore advice that it’s akin to me walking into their chef’s kitchen and telling them how to whip up a nice tomato sauce, my authority derived simply because I’m eventually going to pay the check. Folks, if you want results, and you know you do, let the creatvie people create, and trust them. Either way, we’ll take your money, but it works best if you make yours back! And then some.
KG
November 9th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
As a real estate agent I have written thousands of ads and promotion. After a while, you do run out of superlatives. Simply Fabulous is a new phrase I like to describe homes if applicable.