Marketing Lesson Learned from a Fight with the Wife

by Jason Stewart

Maybe "fight" is a strong word. She was really annoyed with me though. I just wasn't understanding what she was saying, and it seemed like a really simple concept to her. The problem was, she kept explaining it the same way, with the same words, even though I clearly wasn't getting it. When I pointed it out to her, she took a step back and then explained it to me using different words, from a different angle, and it all clicked for me. And it was a really simple concept. And no, I don't remember what it was. But it was one of those "duh" moments when I realized how thick I was being.

As marketers we spend so much time crafting that "one" message that covers all that we are and hopefully all that we will be as a company. But don't ever forget that regardless of how simple the concept is (to you), you should have a backup. No matter how finely crafted your words are, some people are not going to get it - and it's not because they are not smart. It's just because their brains work differently than yours. It happens sometimes.

Side note....don't ever use the "well if they don't understand it then they are not in our target market" crutch, because that's a cop-out. Reliance on jargon to communicate your value is a red flag and will lead to interminable conversations with your cousin who will come up to you at Thanksgiving and ask "...so what does your company do again?" even though you've told him twelve times already. The holidays are practically here. Come up with an elevator pitch your cousin will understand.

Comments

[Dave deBronkart]

> Reliance on jargon to communicate your value is a red flag

Here here.

Methinks there's a lesson here regarding why we do deep keyword research. In inbound marketing, it does us no good at ALL to assert "Googlers shouldn't think that way." The only path to success is to be SAYING (on your site) what people THINK they're looking for.

Precisely on target, J-man. Now I'm going to go target some food.

[e-Patient Dave]

By coincidence, on the HubSpot user forums today I stumbled across a user whose tagline intrigued me, so I went to his blog. He coaches authors, and I found this bit of synchronicity "You Think It's Obvious" http://www.joeltrainsauthors.com/joels-book-writing-blog/bid/7794/You-think-it-s-obvious:

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When you write, do you think "everyone knows" what you are referring to? Are you leaving your readers perplexed and frustrated? Be sure that you are laying out the facts -- or the fiction -- in such a way that a completely uninformed person can pick up the narrative and make sense of it.
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Funny how the world echos itself sometimes.

btw, the guy has the tagline of the YEAR: "You have a book inside you, and it wants to come out. I'm your midwife."

[Affiliate Marketing Network]

Thanks for this blog...

[Online pharmacy]

Funny how the world echos itself sometimes. thanks

[Viagra Online]

Curious story about a marketing lesson.