Marketing is story telling
The most powerful way to tell your story… is to tell your customers’ story.
The IMPACT Marketing model will help you tell yours.
Telling your customers' story means being as specific as possible about the situation your customer is in and “why” they need your product or service. The right story will say to your customer… we get you. Getting results from your story and growing your business relies on two vital marketing components working together in tandem. Strategy + Tactics.
Strategy is the foundation of your marketing activity because it influences the way your customers “think and feel” about your business. Tactics build on that foundation by influencing the way your customers “act”.
There are 6 simple steps that deliver both your strategy and your tactics ensuring you send the right message to the right people at the right time and drive a response.
Answers the question, why you?
Ideal Customer
Describe your ideal customer. Be specific. The more you know about them, the better you will understand what motivates them.
You may have more than one ideal customer if you offer completely different products and services. That’s ok. Or, you may have customers who are completely absent from your customer base that you want to attract. The important thing is to have a story to tell each different ideal customer about what is important to them, in their individual circumstances.
A perfect description of your ideal customer sounds like this… Her name is Sally, she’s 34, has 2 young kids, she drives this model car, lives on this side of town, shops at this mall… be specific.
I - Also stands for “Images”. A picture paints a thousand words so choose an image of your ideal customer… it’ll come in very handy in your Ads.
My Role?
What situation is your ideal customer in when they need you and what role do they need you to play? Your role is to fulfill an outcome. Often, the outcome is deeply important and emotional to your ideal customer. It’s not about you, what you do, or how well you do it. It’s about what it does for them.
While everything we do, and how well we do it, matters, there’s always one or two things that matter most. We find what matters most in the outcome, not the process.
Some possible emotional outcomes for YOUR ideal customer: Smart/savvy, Secure/protected, Popular/well regarded, Trendy, Responsible, Conscientious, Successful, Prosperous, Confident, Relaxed, Sexy, Healthy, Beautiful, Proud, Appreciated, Relieved, Powerful.
Purpose
The word you chose to describe your role becomes your purpose and your “story”. Example: All Sally “really” wants is to feel “Appreciated”. You better do a great job, deliver on time and it better be right - that’s all important but to Sally, that’s just the start. By you doing all those things well, she gets to be the hero at home, at work or in her relationship. That’s Sally’s “outcome”. Think about all the great ways to tell that story.
The outcome (i.e. purpose) may be “appreciated” but the word that tells that story best might be “hero”.
We tell our story in many places and therefore, in many ways, but it should always be the same story.
Answers the question, why now?
Activator
Activators have two important components - the first is a reason to act… the second is a reason to act NOW! An effective activator is any reason that shifts your ideal customer from “thinking” about it to “doing” it.
Customers are busy too. They make a lot of choices every day and they won’t make any more than they have to. Give them a reason to get busy calling, clicking or moving… NOW.
An activator could be an incentive, a reason to use your product or it could highlight the cost of not acting now.
Consistency
Consistency means being consistent with your story but it also means telling your story frequently. Even the most engaging story has little effect after hearing or seeing it only once. Humans learn through repetition. Frequency helps your customers get to know you and keeps you top of mind… so they think of you before they google.
Keep your message consistent and find ways to build frequent communication with your ideal customer affordably.
Your Ads On TAP membership is specifically designed to make consistent advertising affordable to any size business.
Targeting and Tracking
Local media has a huge range of content on different pathways attracting customers from every demographic. Chances are, your ideal customers are frequenting those pathways so that’s where your story needs to be. Your local media Account Executive is the expert at understanding the pattern of your customer and their pathways. They will develop the right marketing plan to target your ideal customer with your story.
Make every marketing dollar count by targeting only your ideal customer at the right time and place, rather than throwing money at anybody and everybody.
As a member of Ads onTAP you have monthly reviews with your Account Executive to track your results and re-target your marketing activity if necessary.
IMPACT Marketing PDF Worksheet
As one of our free services for members, the ADvantage Club team can help you develop your strategy and some ideas for your tactics. If you are a member and need help, we have put together an interactive PDF version of the worksheet, alternatively you can use the online version above, and answer at least the first two questions (Ideal Customer & What Matters Most) and include as much additional information as you can provide, hit submit and we'll be back in touch to take you through the rest…
“Give your business the ADvantage!”
© Copyright | MediaPro