Over the past ten years I have had the opportunity to study dozens of marketing plans and hundreds of commercial offers, and I watched thousands of companies trying to gain a foothold in the most competitive markets in the world. My main conclusion from all this experience is that there is simply an incredible amount of poor marketing solutions in the world. And by the wretched, I mean not just awkward moves, but solutions that will stink even in the vacuum of outer space.
1. Lack of idea about the ideal consumer
Many marketers look at the world solely in terms of product. They know their product to the smallest detail, but only vaguely imagine who in reality might need it, or how the consumer will use it. Worse, some marketers do not consider this important, because their product is a completely brilliant solution, and it is obvious why you need to buy it.
2. Complete inattention to the ideal consumer
Even when marketers really have an idea of an ideal customer, they often devote very little time to listening to such consumers. They do “marketing research” and get demographic statistics, but when it comes to just sitting down and listening (really listening) ... they don’t have this on the agenda. Not surprisingly, the resulting marketing message means nothing to people who are supposed to buy the product.
3. No idea what your customer needs.
Even when marketers listen to their ideal consumer, they are not listening at all to what they need. They are trying to understand how their product can satisfy the needs of the buyer. Although it sounds smart, it's actually stupid. In B2B sales (which is the lion's share of all sales), it is important not to satisfy the needs of the buyer, but to satisfy the needs of his customers. After all, the business of your client depends on this. Your product matters only when it is significant to the end customer.
4. Failure to formulate a meaningful competitive offer
Even when marketers understand the needs of their customer’s customers, it is often extremely difficult for them to formulate a competitive offer that makes sense for both the customer and the end user. To do this, you need to understand the structure of the business throughout the supply chain, and this concept, alas, is usually not given to most marketers - perhaps the most experienced.
5. Failure to formulate a competitive proposal in 25 words or shorter
Even when marketers have formed an excellent competitive offer, they tend to create texts collectively, which leads to lingering offers full of abstractions, business idle talk and jargon. Writing a clear commercial text is a specialized task that can only be performed by a talented employee. This is a rare skill, as evidenced by the mass of absolutely terrible marketing texts that we constantly encounter.
What is the solution? Well, don't get mad at your marketers who are trying to achieve as much as possible in their difficult work. The real solution is to move away from the marketing routine, study the base of potential customers and spend a lot of time listening to them until you really understand how their business works.
Then, when you really understand what is happening, entrust the writing of texts to a professional copywriter. Resist the desire to intervene in this process and attract a crowd of your employees to it - this is tantamount to marketing suicide.
Cutting will not work here.
Muhammad Faheem Khan
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