The importance of being single minded in your communication

I've reached that unfortunate yet inevitable milestone in life - the one that seems to temporarily obliterate your short term memory. You leave a room, only to forget (within the space of 5 seconds) what on earth you were on your way to do. FFS!

I have a 2 year old, so on a good day I will do this on an hourly basis. My brain is full. Full to the brim - admin literally pouring out of my ears. In response to this, my body has decided that micro-memory lapses would be a useful remedy.

The reason for highlighting this milestone isn't to shed more light on the mental load of parenthood, but to remind you that - in all probability - your prospective customer has also reached this milestone and doesn't have the space in their brain for any sort of unnecessary complexity.

If they're in the market for your product or services and they're researching solutions, they need to know quickly and concisely why you are better than the competition. If they're not yet in the market but they're the recipient of your advertising then you'd better make it stand out and be punchy.

It's so common for brands to have too many messages to convey in one piece of advertising - a bit like the kid in the toy shop, their excited voice listing off all the reasons their parents should buy the overpriced item that's clutched hopefully in their hands. At best the message is confusing and overwhelming, and at worst it's annoying. The toy is prized out of the child's hands and placed back on the shelf.

When you're working out the key message that you want your potential customer to hear, try to remember this:

What is the one thing that will make the most difference to your customer's behaviour?

What is the one thing......

I don't doubt that there are many brilliant aspects of your business. It's about listing them all out and being honest with yourself about which is the most powerful.

.....that will make the most difference.....

Having said that, it's not really up to you to decide what it is about your brand that is the best. You might be particularly proud that you give 10% of your profit to charity, but if your customer cares more about the fact you turn projects around in 48 hours, then that's probably the thing!

.....to your customer's behaviour.

But don't just think about what your customer cares about. Think specifically about what your customer cares about enough to change their purchasing behaviour. They might care about you turning projects round in 48 hours, but if the thing that's going to clinch the deal is that you have specific experience in their niche industry, then that's the thing!

When you can bring one clear message to your prospective customer that tells them what they need to hear, you are far more likely to cut through the rest of the stuff already filling their brain. You make life easy for them and that's a huge part of the battle won.

You can't however account for the fact that they may well forget it the minute they leave the room to fetch the phone. FFS!!!

Want some help identifying your most important message?

Simplifying things can, ironically, feel very complicated. If you want to work alongside me to figure this stuff out, get in touch and we can set up a call to work through it. I also offer this work alongside my standard copywriting services.