Defining and Positioning Your Message

In this Defining and Positioning Your Message

• Knowing what customers want in your business, product, or service — and providing it
• Pinpointing what you want to say
• Devising a campaign that knocks their socks off

With a limited advertising budget, your product, service, or company name isn’t on the tip of the national tongue, nor are people from New York to Los Angeles whistling your jingle. But you can define your strengths and position your advertising message in such a way that you give yourself the best possible chance for success. And with 50 percent of all new businesses going under within the first two years, you want to do everything you can to improve these rather daunting odds for your business. 

When you first opened your business, you probably felt confident in doing so because you were convinced you could provide better service, a more unique line of products, and more creative solutions to consumers’ problems than they could find anywhere else. You found an attractive, convenient location; stocked up on really cool merchandise or offered a really distinctive service; expanded your business hours for better customer convenience; and have been enjoying at least the first blush of the success that usually follows a well-thought-out business plan. To paraphrase mass-production genius Henry Kaiser (whose ship-building division, during World War II, built one new Liberty Ship every day), “You found a need and filled it.” But now you need to take it one step further with an advertising campaign that brings in more customers, adds more dollars to your bottom line, and validates all the reasons you went into business in the first place. 

In this part, I fill you in on a few of the key factors that customers use when they choose one business over another — factors you want to keep in mind when you come up with ways to advertise your business’s strengths. Then I walk you through the process of positioning your message, where you let your customers know exactly why they should buy from you. Finally, I end the chapter by outlining the basics of coming up with an effective ad campaign, using a real-life example from my own business as a guide.