What Are The Risks in Saying “No” in Your Brand Messaging?

You’ve heard it said over and over about advertising online, that you shouldn’t be too broad with your brand messaging.

“Be specific”, they say.  “Don’t try to reach everyone, just your target audience”, they say.

Of course, that’s the easiest part; saying it.  Executing a brand message that is accurately targeted is the hard part.

Why?

Because it involves saying “no”, and saying it a lot.  That’s why so many businesses have mis-targeted messaging, poor value propositions (if they have one) and, most damaging, an incomplete sales process.

Take the “No Smoking” sign above. You risk alienating smokers, but if your audience is non-smokers, then you’re sending a clear message that this is a safe place for you, our values align, and you can expect a great experience here.

That’s successful messaging.

But how do you keep from being TOO narrow?  If you define “Narrow Brand Messaging” as talking only to the right people, then you have to get it right every time.  Since no one does, that means you have to widen the large end of your sales funnel, right?

Knowing Your Numbers Strengthens Your Marketing Strategy

As an aside, this is where knowing your numbers comes in handy.  You should know cold your closing ratios; both from cold contacts and warm.

You should also know the most common path your customer takes from entry to your site to purchase. It’s why we do sales process consulting.

How do you reach enough of the right audience without making your message or value prop too broad? This is the balancing act we all walk.

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Happy Marketing!