Of course you aren’t lazy. Up early, hard-working, all that. Right? But what about your marketing? Lazy message, lazy execution, lazy follow-up?
Lazy Message
Buzz words are lazy. It’s a lot easier to throw down some of them than accurately and persuasively engaging the reader or listener or viewer. Which, is your job.
Check this out. It’s real, and real lazy (product name left out to protect the guilty):
“_______ enables multiple organizations within an enterprise to execute virtual business solutions that increase productivity and maximize ROI by creating synergies through the aggregation of high-value, relevant information distribution and sharing plus collaboration amongst employees, customers and partners.”
All that and you still don’t know what the company sells or why you should buy it. Neither, I would argue, does the lazy dope who wrote it.
How to Avoid a Lazy Message:
Understand what you’re selling. Buzz words are a lazy alternative to understanding and describing the benefits of what you sell. Describe the problem; re-engage your audience with the pain your product takes away. Tell your story, focusing on the benefits. Support the benefits with evidence (features, testimonials). Ask your audience to do something, to take action.
Write with your audience in mind. In your opinion, what’s different (unique) about what you sell? Why do customers buy from you? Opps. . .trick question, because what you think isn’t important. What’s important is the perspective and state of mind of the people you sell to. Don’t know? Better ask them!
Tell a story. The quickest way to lose your audience is start firing feature / function /benefits at them. People respond to stories. They have since man told stories on the walls of caves and around a fire. What is it about your company or product or service that nobody else can say? That’s your story.
Read what you write out loud. Or if it’s a video, close your eyes and listen. It should sound like someone talking. I’m pretty sure nobody says things like “creating synergies through the aggregation of high-value, relevant information distribution and sharing.”
Lazy Execution
You’ve seen this. You’ve certainly thrown it away or ignored it. Dear Colleague instead of Dear Hamilton or Dear Mr. Wallace. Or worse, Dear Hamilton Wallace. Or the absolute worst, Dear HAMILTON WALLACE.
Lying to or tricking people is a heck of a lot easier than treating them with respect and honesty. The mailer that looks like a check but isn’t a check. So you’ll open the envelope. The meaningless sale with “Up to” 70% off. One item is 70% off, the rest are not. The free offer nobody cares about, but you have 60 of these things in inventory and you’d love to give them away free with a purchase. Lazy, lazy, lazy.
How to Avoid Lazy Execution:
Simple. Two thoughts. First, know that the technology exists to achieve just about any level of personalization you can dream up. Just pay attention to the details, like whether the name list you buy has the first and last name in different fields. Second, care about your craft. And three (bonus!), don’t lie, it’s bad Karma.
Lazy Follow-up
Lazy follow-up exists at the two extremes.
No follow-up. Zero. Here’s the quote or whatever you requested and that’s all you get.
Or mindless follow-up. Hi, I’m a moron and I’m here to annoy you again — this is the fifth time I’ve left a voice mail actually — wondering if you’re ready to buy our $65,000 product after giving us your business card at the trade show?
How to Avoid Lazy Followup:
Pretty much along the same lines as avoiding lazy execution. First, know that the technology exists to follow up. The company that moron works for uses CRM. So, follow up. Second, care about your craft. Know that people need different things at different points in the sales cycle. Know when to provide more information and when to ask for a decision.
When you were a kid, being lazy had a payoff. Maybe your parents would forget about you pulling the weeds or cleaning the bathroom. Today, good marketing doesn’t take substantially more effort than lazy marketing. So, why why not do it right? Besides, it has never been easier to NOT be lazy. So. . . .don’t be.
Feeling energetic? Leave a comment!
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