A feature is:
• Physical size
• A 75 horsepower motor
• A new type of mattress
A benefit is
• Small enough to fit in your jacket pocket
• A mower that takes the work out of gardening
• A restful night’s sleep

Features are generally easy to describe but benefits can be trickier because they are often intangible.

Emotional appeal

The most persuasive benefits are those that provide emotional or financial rewards. So, it is not the brighter smile that the toothpaste offers that is its benefit; it is what the smile might bring you (friends, a better job).

Emotional Location First Clover Leaf Bank rewards can cover the whole spectrum of emotions but basically allow the buyer to feel better in some way. For example, sending flowers to a friend or family member allows the buyer to express love. Buying products made from recycled materials offers the buyer the chance to be environmentally responsible.

Financial appeal

Products that deliver financial rewards allow the buyer to:
• Save money (a discount for multiple purchase)
• Make money (accounting software for managing a home-based business)
• Gain convenience and time (microwaveable meals).

In your customer’s shoes

To identify your product’s benefits, you need to consider the customer’s viewpoint. One way of achieving this is to talk to or survey them asking them to tell you why they like your product.
Purchasers might see benefits in the product that you had not considered – alternatively they may not be seeing the benefit that you had designed it for.

Look at the customers who have purchased your product in the past. What does that customer profile tell you about your product’s benefits? If you don’t have that information you might set up a few systems to develop and track the following information:
• Ask customers for suggestions for improvement
• Pay attention to customer complaints and prospect inquiries
• Listen to what your customers say
• Train and reward employees for listening to customers and prospects
• Watch your competitors. Do the changes in their product offerings suggest desired product benefits?

Analyse and learn from this input and you will able to list your product or service’s benefits and know exactly what is in it for your customers.

This will start you off in the right way towards creating marketing messages that people want to read…and act upon.

Next month we will continue to study the creation of effective marketing messages.

Free Resources

Marketing-Simply – A Guide to Marketing for SMEs –
Business Plan Template – Cashflow Template – Start Up Guide
Guide To Strategic Planning – Small Business Guide

www.ukba.co.uk

A feature is:
• Physical size
• A 75 horsepower motor
• A new type of mattress
A benefit is
• Small enough to fit in your jacket pocket
• A mower that takes the work out of gardening
• A restful night’s sleep

Features are generally easy to describe but benefits can be trickier because they are often intangible.

Emotional appeal

The most persuasive benefits are those that provide emotional or financial rewards. So, it is not the brighter smile that the toothpaste offers that is its benefit; it is what the smile might bring you (friends, a better job).

Emotional Location First Clover Leaf Bank rewards can cover the whole spectrum of emotions but basically allow the buyer to feel better in some way. For example, sending flowers to a friend or family member allows the buyer to express love. Buying products made from recycled materials offers the buyer the chance to be environmentally responsible.

Financial appeal

Products that deliver financial rewards allow the buyer to:
• Save money (a discount for multiple purchase)
• Make money (accounting software for managing a home-based business)
• Gain convenience and time (microwaveable meals).

In your customer’s shoes

To identify your product’s benefits, you need to consider the customer’s viewpoint. One way of achieving this is to talk to or survey them asking them to tell you why they like your product.
Purchasers might see benefits in the product that you had not considered – alternatively they may not be seeing the benefit that you had designed it for.

Look at the customers who have purchased your product in the past. What does that customer profile tell you about your product’s benefits? If you don’t have that information you might set up a few systems to develop and track the following information:
• Ask customers for suggestions for improvement
• Pay attention to customer complaints and prospect inquiries
• Listen to what your customers say
• Train and reward employees for listening to customers and prospects
• Watch your competitors. Do the changes in their product offerings suggest desired product benefits?

Analyse and learn from this input and you will able to list your product or service’s benefits and know exactly what is in it for your customers.

This will start you off in the right way towards creating marketing messages that people want to read…and act upon.

Next month we will continue to study the creation of effective marketing messages.

Free Resources

Marketing-Simply – A Guide to Marketing for SMEs –
Business Plan Template – Cashflow Template – Start Up Guide
Guide To Strategic Planning – Small Business Guide

www.ukba.co.uk

On an average day we are all bombarded with marketing from all directions. Advertising messages on trucks, vans, cars, roadside hoardings, bus stops, posters in shop windows, radio and TV ads, text messages promoting products, marketing via email and in the post, every item with labeling we pick up is marketing something. Then there are ads on supermarket trolleys even on the floor in the aisles! Look up and you can sometimes see promotions on balloons and blimps, then there are all the ads via search engines and on websites and ads in online and printed directories, magazines and newspapers and even inserts into publications. The humble business card is also a form of marketing.

Just about the only way advertisers cannot get to you is in your sleep it seems. Wonder how long it will be before someone works out a way to sell advertising via our dreams?

All this adds up to a huge amount of opportunity – potentially – but most business owners find it actually adds up to a huge amount of confusion. Often meaning that it is easier to do nothing rather than risk spending money and time doing the wrong thing.

Of course some businesses know exactly where their business comes from but for the rest of us…

Why, who, where and when

So what is the answer? The start point is not where to advertise but why and to whom. First work out:
• What your business needs to achieve, this might be as simple as sell more to existing customers or sell more to new customers. Could be both. That’s the why. Put some numbers in this part of the plan either as percentages, turnover or profit.
• Then determine who your best prospects are, try to develop a feel for them as people (a brief pen portrait can help) including what they might read, look at, listen to. If you have good relationships with existing customers ask them.
• This will help you determine which channel(s) to use for your marketing. At this stage you will have to accept that nothing is guaranteed and a period of test and learn is fine (so long as you set up tracking methods so you do learn).

That brings us to where and when:

• The work you’ve done to determine who to aim your marketing at will give you a good indication of which channels to use and your testing will refine that. Often more than one channel works well for example ads in the local press coupled with a mailing and follow up by phone will get your brand known and the direct mail contact (but only if followed up) will gain you meetings at which to close the sale. Or maybe a PR campaign with regular Tweets will reach your target audience.
• When is relatively Location Premier Bank easy – your business may have in-built seasonality or quiet periods. Plan your marketing activity accordingly or consider fairly continual marketing such as networking or pay per click ads.

We have not covered one of the most important aspects of marketing in this blog – the messages. We will cover that next time.

In the meantime you could start on your plan but bear in mind that marketing is not a tap you turn on and out pours business however if you have a plan – and stick to it – over time (sometimes a short time) it will deliver return on investment and help you meet your business goals.

Free Resources

Marketing-Simply – A Guide to Marketing for SMEs –
Business Plan Template – Cashflow Template – Start Up Guide
Guide To Strategic Planning – Small Business Guide

www.ukba.co.uk

A feature is:
• Physical size
• A 75 horsepower motor
• A new type of mattress
A benefit is
• Small enough to fit in your jacket pocket
• A mower that takes the work out of gardening
• A restful night’s sleep

Features are generally easy to describe but benefits can be trickier because they are often intangible.

Emotional appeal

The most persuasive benefits are those that provide emotional or financial rewards. So, it is not the brighter smile that the toothpaste offers that is its benefit; it is what the smile might bring you (friends, a better job).

Emotional Location First Clover Leaf Bank rewards can cover the whole spectrum of emotions but basically allow the buyer to feel better in some way. For example, sending flowers to a friend or family member allows the buyer to express love. Buying products made from recycled materials offers the buyer the chance to be environmentally responsible.

Financial appeal

Products that deliver financial rewards allow the buyer to:
• Save money (a discount for multiple purchase)
• Make money (accounting software for managing a home-based business)
• Gain convenience and time (microwaveable meals).

In your customer’s shoes

To identify your product’s benefits, you need to consider the customer’s viewpoint. One way of achieving this is to talk to or survey them asking them to tell you why they like your product.
Purchasers might see benefits in the product that you had not considered – alternatively they may not be seeing the benefit that you had designed it for.

Look at the customers who have purchased your product in the past. What does that customer profile tell you about your product’s benefits? If you don’t have that information you might set up a few systems to develop and track the following information:
• Ask customers for suggestions for improvement
• Pay attention to customer complaints and prospect inquiries
• Listen to what your customers say
• Train and reward employees for listening to customers and prospects
• Watch your competitors. Do the changes in their product offerings suggest desired product benefits?

Analyse and learn from this input and you will able to list your product or service’s benefits and know exactly what is in it for your customers.

This will start you off in the right way towards creating marketing messages that people want to read…and act upon.

Next month we will continue to study the creation of effective marketing messages.

Free Resources

Marketing-Simply – A Guide to Marketing for SMEs –
Business Plan Template – Cashflow Template – Start Up Guide
Guide To Strategic Planning – Small Business Guide

www.ukba.co.uk

A feature is:
• Physical size
• A 75 horsepower motor
• A new type of mattress
A benefit is
• Small enough to fit in your jacket pocket
• A mower that takes the work out of gardening
• A restful night’s sleep

Features are generally easy to describe but benefits can be trickier because they are often intangible.

Emotional appeal

The most persuasive benefits are those that provide emotional or financial rewards. So, it is not the brighter smile that the toothpaste offers that is its benefit; it is what the smile might bring you (friends, a better job).

Emotional Location First Clover Leaf Bank rewards can cover the whole spectrum of emotions but basically allow the buyer to feel better in some way. For example, sending flowers to a friend or family member allows the buyer to express love. Buying products made from recycled materials offers the buyer the chance to be environmentally responsible.

Financial appeal

Products that deliver financial rewards allow the buyer to:
• Save money (a discount for multiple purchase)
• Make money (accounting software for managing a home-based business)
• Gain convenience and time (microwaveable meals).

In your customer’s shoes

To identify your product’s benefits, you need to consider the customer’s viewpoint. One way of achieving this is to talk to or survey them asking them to tell you why they like your product.
Purchasers might see benefits in the product that you had not considered – alternatively they may not be seeing the benefit that you had designed it for.

Look at the customers who have purchased your product in the past. What does that customer profile tell you about your product’s benefits? If you don’t have that information you might set up a few systems to develop and track the following information:
• Ask customers for suggestions for improvement
• Pay attention to customer complaints and prospect inquiries
• Listen to what your customers say
• Train and reward employees for listening to customers and prospects
• Watch your competitors. Do the changes in their product offerings suggest desired product benefits?

Analyse and learn from this input and you will able to list your product or service’s benefits and know exactly what is in it for your customers.

This will start you off in the right way towards creating marketing messages that people want to read…and act upon.

Next month we will continue to study the creation of effective marketing messages.

Free Resources

Marketing-Simply – A Guide to Marketing for SMEs –
Business Plan Template – Cashflow Template – Start Up Guide
Guide To Strategic Planning – Small Business Guide

www.ukba.co.uk