Break On Through: 5 Tips on How to Craft Compelling Communications
We, your friendly, hard-working qualitative researchers at Doyle Research Associates, have conducted thousands of interviews over the years testing marketing and advertising communications. We’ve seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. And we have learned a thing or two. Following are 5 tips on how to craft compelling and engaging communications likely to achieve that elusive goal — customer breakthrough.
Keep it simple. Be succinct. Be precise. Customers have become accustomed to “text-speak.” Their attention spans are short. They have no patience for lengthy messages. The fewer words, the better. Highlight key points, and make content visually interesting and digestible.
It’s all about the benefits. Consumers reading, watching or listening to your marketing messages are continuously asking themselves: why should I care about this? What’s in it for me? How is this different from what I currently buy or use? It’s not about what you offer. It’s about what’s in it for them.
Include graphics. Make it easy. Use tables, charts or graphs to summarize or compare data. They allow customers to take in information at a glance, particularly in complex categories like healthcare.
Make the call to action easy. In a study in which our client wanted potential customers’ to read their ad and call to request a free information booklet, consumers didn’t want to have to call. They wanted to email. They wanted to text. They had a point. Customers should not have to work to get information.
Make it personal. Consumers are more apt to pay attention to messages that they find relevant. Even slight word changes can make a huge difference. For example, we once tested a tagline, ”Energy to Serve the World.” Consumers did not care two straws about a company serving the world. What they did care about was their own corner of the world. The revised tagline, “Energy to Serve Your World” spoke to them.
Break through the clutter so that your customers hear you LOUD and clear.
