Wesley Day Advertising

• PRODUCT POSITIONING: Reality Check
• Getting Publicity for Your Business
• Are You a Tweet or a Twit?
• Make Your Writing Clear and Powerful
• Presentation Gaffs to Avoid
• CONVERTING WEB LEADS: Pay for Registering

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PRODUCT POSITIONING – 1 OF 4
REALITY CHECK

How many times have you seen product positioning that didn't answer the most essential questions:

1. What does the product do?
2. Who should purchase it?
3. Why should I choose your product over the competition?

Product positioning is a powerful marketing tool and, when done correctly, results in higher product sales, more effective promotions, better brand image, and – most importantly – a loyal and satisfied customer base. Just as your company's positioning language must be audited regularly, so should your product's positioning.

In the next three issues of On Advertising we'll take a "tough love" look at these three critical aspects of positioning:

1. Assessing your product.
2. Identifying the problem you solve.
3. Communicating your benefit. Return to top.

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GETTING PUBLICITY FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Your advertising audience doesn't really know if your company is good. After all, it's just you telling them, and these days everyone is a tad skeptical.

This is where PR comes in – third-party validation. Here's how to go about getting it:

Do your homework
First, pick the right medium and identify their right reporter – someone who covers what it is you will be pitching.

Come up with a hook
News outlets are not in the business of giving out free publicity. They are in the business of covering the news. So give them some news to cover. Come up with a unique angle.

Craft your pitch
Don’t shotgun out a general release. Write a personal e-mail that is short, snappy, to the point, unique, and of interest to their readers.

Follow up
Editors are all busy these days, and things do fall through the cracks. A gentle reminder, a joke, a follow up e-mail, all can help. Just don’t overdo it.

So the bottom line is that you come up with a unique angle that fits a reporter interested in what you are pitching, and that you pitch them in a personal e-mail that respects their expertise, time, and readers. That’s what we do – and what we can do for you. Return to top.

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ARE YOU A TWEET OR A TWIT?

Twitter, like many other social media, has attracted scores of so-called gurus who threw the fundamental elements of marketing out the window and over-Tweeted ad nauseam.

Their heavy on-the-job Tweeting reveals three things:

1. They really aren't that busy.
2. They really don’t understand the fundamentals of marketing – if those tweets were e-mails, you’d consider them to be “spam.”
3. They really have no perspective if they think the world cares about what they had for lunch.

Since it changes daily, there are no social media experts – only those with experience. And as any coach will tell you, “Practicing mistakes only make you better at making mistakes.” Return to top.

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MAKE YOUR WRITING CLEAR AND POWERFUL

Whether memos, e-mails, publicity, or advertising:

1. Shorter verbs add power. Instead of "terminate and secure" use "end and get."
2. Personalize your writing. Instead of "profits are up 12 percent" write "CFO Julie Smith reports profits are up 12 percent."
3. Use specifics. Instead of "he worked for a company in the Midwest" write "He worked for Hy-Vee in Des Moines."
4. Avoid using formal, stuffy phrases. Instead of "as of this date" say "today."
5. Keep sentences short – shoot for 20 words max.
6. Spell out numbers from zero to nine. Use numerals for 10 and higher.
7. Express large numbers clearly. Instead of "$7,000,000" write "$7 million."
8. Contractions give writing a more personal tone.
9. Pronouns help draw in the reader.
10. Use questions to make your writing livelier. Instead of "let me know if the plan has merit" write "do you think the plan has merit?"
11. Try not to proofread on your screen. You'll catch more mistakes if you print out a document.
12. Do not rely on spell checker. It will not detect misused words. Return to top.

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PRESENTATION GAFFS TO AVOID

When you receive no feedback or negative feedback, ask yourself if you committed any of these gaffs:

Confusing language.
Did you use technical phrases, jargon, company terms, or acronyms your prospect might not understand?

Distractions.
The human brain can process more words per minute than a person can speak, so the mind has idle time when it can wander. Did you allow your thoughts to wander while the prospect was speaking? If so, you may have misinterpreted the person’s message and responded in a way they weren't expecting.

Nonverbal signals.
Could you have said one thing but sent a completely different message with your body language?

Prospect’s attitude.
Did a prospect’s poor attitude cause you to focus on the attitude and not on your presentation? Return to top.

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CONVERTING WEB LEADS – 1 OF 10
PAY FOR REGISTERING

No, you don't need to offer money. But you do need to offer some incentive, such as a free e-newsletter or one-time discount code in exchange for their name and contact information. It's an age-old principle: you'll attract more registrations and put prospects at ease if you present the registration form as something that'll entitle them to privileged information. Return to top.