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The secret to getting your marketing messages understood

Updated June 2015

By Jim Connolly | November 10, 2010

Today’s post can help you improve the effectiveness of your marketing so that you achieve more of the bankable results, which your hard work deserves.  I want to start by telling you about one of the best kept secrets of the world’s most effective copywriters and marketing experts: Frequency!

With marketing, there are 2 main types of frequency:

  1. The frequency with which you do something.  For example, how frequently someone should publish blog posts to get the best results.
  2. The frequency of your marketing message.  For example, being on the same wavelength as your prospective clients.

It’s the second type of frequency I am going to share with you in this post.

Copywriting and frequency

In order to make your copywriting as powerful and persuasive as possible, it needs to be written on the same frequency as it’s intended readership; i.e. your prospective clients or customers (herein called clients.)

When I am explaining the concept of frequency to young entrepreneurs, I use the analogy of a radio station.  A radio station transmits on a set frequency.  The only people who can hear that station, are those tuned into the same frequency.  For the message to be sent and received, both the transmitter and receiver need to be on the same wavelength.

The same is true with marketing messages and copywriting.  For your message to be received correctly, they need to be written on your prospective client’s wavelength.  This means using the language they use, and references that will resonate with them etc.  It’s why we need to use a different approach when selling to different age groups, for example.  If you look at the marketing, which phone companies use to encourage teenagers to buy the latest devices, it’s very different to the way those same phone companies target business users.

In each case the company is selling a phone, but they use different images, words, references, motivators and even different age actors in their ads.  Everything is tuned into the correct frequency, so their message is received and understood.

Copywriting on THEIR wavelength

So, here’s a question for you:
When you develop your marketing, do you produce content that YOU find appealing (on your frequency) or content that’s written exclusively to appeal to your ideal client?

I often find that small business owners base their marketing on what THEY think is most important and they deliver that message, on THEIR frequency, not their prospective client’s.  This means they are emphasising the wrong benefits AND failing to get heard!

Here are a few ways to get your message on the right frequency:

  • Identify exactly who your ideal prospective client is.  Yes, their may be lots of different types people who could become a client, but focus on what constitutes an ideal client for you.  If you don’t know what makes an ideal client, try this.  Imagine you could hand-pick your next 100 clients.  Who would they be?  Get specific.  Market to these targeted people.  That’s where the gold dust is for your business.
  • Learn what is going on in their world right now.  Most accountants, web designers, trainers, coaches, lawyers etc, know all about what’s happening in THEIR industry, but very little about what’s happening in their client’s world.  If you want to be completely relevant, you need to keep an ear to the ground.
  • Listen to the kind of phrases and terminology your clients use and when appropriate, integrate it into your marketing.  I use very different language when I am marketing an accountant’s services, than when I am promoting someone in the music industry.  This is essential if you want to be on the same frequency as your prospective clients.
  • Learn what 6 or 8 things your client’s find most valuable about your services, then integrate them, in order, into your marketing.  This way, you will be selling based on the benefits your users find most attractive and compelling – Not what YOU think is most important.  Remember: It’s always about them!

I hope this has given you a few actionable ideas, which you can use to get your marketing on the same frequency as your prospective clients.  Even if you find that just one of these ideas gets you better tuned into their frequency, it can make a big difference.

I want to help you achieve your best marketing results ever, which is why I spend thousands each year hosting and delivering this blog for you.

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Jim Connolly

Hi! I'm Jim Connolly and I use creative marketing to help small business owners increase sales, boost profits and build amazing businesses. Read more here.

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