Lady In Red Marketing – Shark Tank Blog – Eliminate ME-TOO Marketing

Hello Blog Readers and all ships at sea – Welcome to my new reader in Italy. Cool I’m going international.

Today as I drove home from the gym thoughts of developing a USP ran through my head. USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition.

This blog idea stemmed from a prospect evaluation I had last week. Following the initial conversation I contacted a colleague for a second opinion. We both agreed the prospect’s website had a ME-TOO identity crisis. He is a book author. He wants to sell books about financial planning. Yet his website sounded just like every other “financial guru” on the market. Not too hard to see why his one and only book failed to sell. People didn’t realize what made his message unique. No AIDA, no call to action, nothing to “ask for the sale” just a lot of “ME-TOO” writing.

Fear of missing out on a sales opportunity drives some small business owners to do two really strange things. First they want to be bigger than they are. They use ME-TOO talk, call themselves a corporation, publisher, CEO, etc. Just little ‘ole Joe business owner isn’t good enough. Second they are “jack of all trades, master of none.” They do a smattering of everything. Speaking with them sounds like a political ad full of big promises and half baked ideas. They can cure cancer, negotiate world peace, save your business, triple your revenue, and do everything yesterday. You get a gut reaction they are full of BS, and run for the hills.

While my colleague and I came up with the standard suggestion. Rewrite his website with a re-branded message we realized we don’t know his audience. People who want to “achieve a financially stable retirement” is too broad, and there is just too much competition. He needs to reach a specific subset of that audience. So I sent him along with a task. Who is his “true target audience?” Until we identify that buyer we can’t do the website rewrite.

Now look at your website or sales literature… How much writing sounds like industry babble? Too much blah-blah-blah we’re #1, we’re great, blah-blah is a message killer!

Remember when your marketing sounds exactly like everyone else (ME-TOO) people tune you out! They’ve already heard that message before. A business owner needs to find their unique voice – something which will stop the prospect in their tracks. Something that bonds the audience to you for life.

One of my favorite examples of bad braning was a small community bank that had a blatant ME-TOO message. While the financial crash of 2008 was unfolding they refused to give up the “big bank” persona. It wasn’t until the big competitors started to say “we care about our customers” did they follow suit. The missed millions of dollars of new business because they refused to change from the ME-TOO message. The lesson – even large business’ have ME-TOO blinders on.

Final thought today, you can’t be everything to everybody. Express your unique qualities, be who you are, and spell it out. People who plan to buy your product, or hire you, will respect your candor. Don’t write your marketing message trying to please everyone. That will only lead to “ME-TOO” statements, and ME-TOO marketing is a nail in the coffin of your business.

A “specific target audience” allows you to be the big fish in your small pond.

Have a good week and market well-
Christine

P.S. – As the holiday season approaches I’m working on a special project. These books are dedicated to personal, business and financial success. A bit off topic for my Shark Tank blog, but if you want to be a big fish in the pond of life it will be worth a look. just whetting your appetite for more.

P.S.S. – Keep those comments coming, and as I said before if you have a project you want me to evaluate please contact me. I’m evaluating a few products and services that help fellow business owners accelerate success.

Share