I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about the VERY CORE of marketing.

Sure, I've gestured towards it…flirted with it even (namely in 3 things people forget about a new business name). But I can't wait any longer. It is now it's time to 'go there'. It is time to talk about your….  

Unique Selling Proposition

God, what an awful, boring term. It's almost as rigor mortis-inspiring as 'corporate image' and 'corporate identity'. It even has a boring acronym: USP.

Okay. It may be hard to believe, but your 'unique selling proposition (USP)' is what makes you really exciting to other people. It is what makes you special.

For remotely effective marketing, it is absolutely vital for you to know – in one line – what your unique selling proposition is. Why? Because if you don't know what makes you special, why should anyone else care?

But nailing your USP can be tricky…

There are two questions to ask yourself:

1. What do you do that's different from everyone else? 
2. Why should I care?

Question # 1: What do you do that is different from everyone else? 

If you say "But I don't care about what anyone else is doing", I say "You're a ning-nong who deserves to fail in business."

Sound harsh? Being spiritual (and loving all of God's creatures) doesn't mean you exist in a bubble. Embrace your environment and understand what's going on around you.

Finding out what makes you different from the rest: 

1. Define what you do as best you can (e.g. plumbing).
2. Define the people you want to do it for (e.g. people in Bondi, Australia).
3. Google those answers (e.g. plumbing, Bondi, Australia) to find out how others like you are promoting themselves (i.e. your competition). 
4. Take notes on the key messages they are promoting
5. What's missing from their sites that you know you do?

It could be a particular service you give.

It could be a particular product you sell.

It could be a guarantee you offer.

It could be that you know everyone in Bondi is groovy-savvy and there are no plumbing websites that look remotely groovy-savvy…and you are pretty groovy-savvy yourself (yes, even plumbers can be groovy-savvy).

Is being a 'groovy-savvy Bondi plumber' enough to serve as a unique selling proposition? Maybe. This leads us to the next question…

Question #2: Why should I care?

People aren't as caring as you think. They don't really care where you were born or what your favourite colour is. These days, chances are, they won't even care if you are a family business.

But it's a good idea to get to know these people personally – even if they don't want to get to know you personally.

Who are these people?

'These people' are called your 'target market'. They are the people you are selling to, your clients or customers. These are your punters – or punters you wish you had. 

How would we describe your punters?

Punter descriptions are often called 'demographics'. Demographics are small boxes we jam complex humans into for the sake of effective marketing.

In other words, sometimes you have to throw the net out and generalise a little. Are your desired punters:

• women, men or transsexual? 
• high income, low income or low income but want to pretend to have a high income?
• tertiary graduates, from the School of Hard Knocks or an interesting combination of the two?   

Okay, you get the picture.

So let's look at some possible demographics / characteristics for Bondi punters in need of plumbing repairs for their homes:

• well-educated women (men are too ashamed to call)
• reasonably high income (the beach might be free but the rest certainly isn't)
• likes groovy things 
• doesn't tolerate mess well (not even sand…)
• can still drive a hard bargain (on anything but shoes and soft furnishings)

What do they care about?

Essentially, most people want to know that:

• you are reliable: fix the problem properly
• you are responsive: fix the problem when they want it fixed
• you are worth it: charging at a price that's fine to them.

So why would a groovy-savvy-looking plumbing website be important to Bondi people?

Well, first you have to ensure they understand you will fix the problem at a price that's fine to them. And that your availability is good – who wants dodgy plumbing for more than a day? And that you clean up after yourself, because they hate mess, remember? 

But maybe all the plumbers advertising in the Bondi area are saying these things.

So THEN, by having the groovy-savvy-looking website you will be saying "AND we are one of you".

Why is saying 'we are one of you' important?

Answer: Trust. Plumbers come into people homes, often when there isn't another man around. A woman wants to know she can trust the plumber. She's already feeling that 'we are alike' trust from your promotional material by the groovy-savvy-looking design. From your words she knows that you won't be ripping her off financially either.

But that's just one example.

The point is…

The point is that your unique selling proposition isn't just a line of words. It can be conveyed in a multitude of ways. But you need to start with that line of words for your own clarity and go from there.

What do I mean "…and go from there"?

In the next post, you will find out how to use your unique selling proposition in your promotional material….

Note: If you know why you are special, then you are more likely to make your clients feel special.

This post was written by Megan Hills.  Megan is a writer, cartoonist and marketing consultant who thinks you're special too. Find out more about Megan

You hear a lot about ‘corporate identity’ and ‘corporate image’.  They sound about the same – and sound equally dull – but they are actually two different things.

And it is important to know what these terms mean.  Why?  So when some poncy git starts trying to intimidate you by using them in a meeting or a cocktail party you’ll have the upper hand.

Irony note #1: Marketing is essentially about engaging communication.  But when it comes to basic marketing terms, many people feel a strange mixture of boredom and confusion that sees them wandering off towards any beverage with 90% caffeine content.

‘Corporate identity’

Corporate identity is about how you want your business to look to your target market – i.e. those folks you call clients or customers – as well as those other folks that haven't become customers or clients yet…but you would like them to.  This is generally achieved through the following:

1. Corporate design: logos, corporate colours, uniforms, etc.
2. Corporate communication: public relations, promotional material, etc.
3. Corporate behaviour: values of your business and how those values are demonstrated/promoted

‘Corporate image’

Corporate Image is more about how the marketplace really feels about you.  That’s the scary bit.

Irony note # 2 Marketing is also about clear communication – to be engaging you need to be understood, right? So to clarify these badly titled terms further: it’s okay if you’re not a corporation.  People in small business, even solo traders, still refer to their ‘corporate identity’.  This stems from the corporate definition of ‘unity’, rather than being a corporation in the legal business sense. Interesting note: the word  ‘corporation’ is also a synonym for ‘paunch’.

My suggestion

Perhaps we should be calling corporate identity ‘Please remember me fondly’ and corporate image ‘Do you love me?’.  Much easier to remember, don’t you think?

McDonald’s – example of corporate identity (Please remember me fondly):

If you think of McDonalds you might think of the golden arches or even just the yellow and red colours used in their promotional material. In the past, you might have thought of ‘Ronald McDonald’ or ‘the unattractive and kinda scary red-haired clown’.  But the clown is being toned down the McDonald’s corporate identity.  Why? Because recent years have seen McDonalds strongly marketing to adults who aren’t attracted to food fights by four year olds and accidental urine on slippery slides.  Think of the ‘McCafe’ push: sophisticated cappuccino and bakery treats.  Very different, very swish.  In the commercial, at least.

McDonalds – example of corporate image (Do you love me?):

Customers (or potential customers) might think McDonalds is great because they trust that the food is fast, and their stores reproduce in number like bunnies.  So for a positive corporate image in this case: convenience is key. Or they might think McDonald’s is not so great because they are dubious about the company’s beef patty production or have concerns around nutrition  (and perhaps this negative corporate image is the fault of films like Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me..she inserts into the article casually).  Corporate image can be determined by the marketplace and can be changeable (sometimes depending on our see-saw of our righteousness and lethargy).

Another example of corporate identity vs. corporate image: Apple computers

Apple’s logo image of a bitten-off apple is a strong corporate identity.  You see it A LOT in movies and TV shows lit up on the back of computer screens.  Have you noticed?  That's called 'shameless product placement'.  

But I digress…okay, back to corporate identity and Apple.  More recently the ‘i’ before a word has also become a strong corporate identity: iMac, iPhone, iTunes, i'm-over-it.  How the marketplace feels about Apple has been up and down over the years.  At the moment, the corporate image is strong.  Their iIdentity strategy has been iSavvy.

While we’re on the subject of Apple Computers, if you want a laugh read this article about ‘Mac Monks’ by Charlie Brooker.  It’s all about how powerful corporate image can be.

That’s enough, I’m sure you’ve got the picture.  Anything to ask or add?  Comment below…

What has the word 'marketing' meant to you?

To some, marketing has meant vertebrae-cracking limbo dancing to the lowest common denominator in order to make sales. Or it could have been whittling down your audience to a size 1 niche and pushing a camel through the eye of a needle…in order to make sales. But to most of us, marketing has been something in between.

Marketing definition: past

In the past, marketing has been about reaching the people you think you can help and communicating your solution to them with gusto.  Sometimes it’s something they need.  Sometimes it’s something they want.  Sometimes it’s a combination of the two.

Evil marketing

Sometimes marketing is introducing something that ‘they’ didn’t know they needed or wanted.  And then, upon this fine introduction, they decide they need it or want it.  This is where a lot of people think marketing is evil.  No axis.  Just straight-up evil.  But I'd beg to differ on that one…

Remember the wheel? 

It wasn’t always around.  But the wheel seems to have caught on.  When it was invented, someone had to explain what the wheel might do.  How it might make life easier.  Who did he (or she) explain it to?  Answer: the consumerist suckers that would listen.  And look at where that got them. Everywhere…

What’s great about now

What’s great about now – and what’s changing the idea around that word 'marketing' – is the internet.  But why I think it’s great might be a bit different to why you think it’s great. You might think the internet is great because:

• You can reach people globally much, much easier
• You can save on printing costs (and save trees, very important)
• You can set up certain ‘widgets’ (that word always tickles me – see My Cartoon Thing about Harold and widgets) that enable people to comment on your information (you’re getting warm…)

Why I think the internet is great

Yes, I agree with all of the above.  But what really makes me grin like a maniac about the internet is because people are gradually learning not to start sentences with “In the aforesaid viability…”.

Yes, there are people who are still writing like they have a pitchfork poised around their nether regions.  But the internet increasingly calls for human-sounding conversations.  Sometimes these conversations can go too far in the other direction.  A wee bit too brief, or too sloppy.  And perhaps what is being said may be so intimate it's offensive – or just plain confusing.

The conversational language that the internet inspires is now feeding back into other forms of communication (e.g. printed material).  This doesn’t mean a bow tie shouldn’t appear, or poetry even.  But the possibility for The Conversation now hovers in our atmosphere like oxygen.

The essential thing to remember is this:

Communication succeeds (whether in formal attire or wearing tracksuit pants) if it connects well with the people it has been created to talk to.  And there’s one more thing….

The ‘bottom line’ in marketing

Let’s not forget the ‘bottom line’.  It’s usually a tough person in a suit that talks about the ‘bottom line’ while I think of someone's bottom (sans-underpants) sitting on a wire fence.  But the bottom line for marketing is NOT just conveying what you want to convey to those who you want to reach.

No, that’s not all.

It’s also about getting a response. You can’t have a conversation if you’re the only one doing the talking, can you?

So what did you think of this blog?  Let me know. Start the conversation.