Who do you think you’re talking to?

In the built environment, our businesses don’t deal in small numbers and our clients don’t make purchasing decisions based on whim or fancy. We live in a world where relationships, reputations and brand are key.

For all three of these qualities, the marketing messages we consistently put out into the world are powerful tools. If we’re doing it right, these messages will land in receptive ears and will explain exactly how our service or product can improve their lives and their business. Basically, we want to convince them that we’re the right seller/provider/people for them.

The success of these messages is down to all kinds of things. So many in fact, that we wouldn’t be able to fit them all within the confines of this small blog. That’s why we’re going to focus on just one of those things and that’s message targeting.

Figuring out who you’re target market is and tailoring your messages just for them is often the starting point on which to base your messaging strategy. An exercise in achieving this is often referred to as writing for one person.

Let’s explore it.

Don’t be a people pleaser

One of the biggest traps you can fall into when coming up with your marketing messages is being too broad. It’s tempting to think you need to be inclusive and please as many people as possible without turning some people off, but that’s just the wrong approach.

It’s the old adage of you can’t please everybody. It’s a thankless task and you’ll likely just find yourself curating boring, ‘say-nothing’ brand messages that don’t tickle your target audience’s fancy.

Some people just aren’t going to get you or what you do and that’s fine. They’ll move on with their life and you can move on with yours, targeting the people who really dig what you do.

Understand who you’re targeting

The key to tailoring a sharp, action-producing message is all about understanding your audience. That means finding out who that audience typically is, what things they value, what their pain points are as they relate to your area of expertise or service, and what they want from the people they work with or hire.

Once you understand them, you can start writing messages for them. And that’s where the magic happens.

Here’s an example. You’re an architect specialising in design for extremely efficient social housing projects. Through analysing the market, you’ll understand that you’ll be targeting a lot of housing associations, registered providers and local councils. Consequently, you’ll then find that these potential clients are looking for shrewd master plans and efficient building designs that make the most of space and hit the brief on budget.

You can then sculpt your messages to reflect that you’re an authority on these matters. You’ll talk about the efficiency of your process, the pursuit of commercially viable quality and the innovative use of design and materials to achieve it.

You know your audience, so pitch directly to them.

Writing for one person

A great technique to do this is to start off writing to one person. This person can be someone you know who is a prime target client or they could be an imaginary, ideal client. As long as your profile of them is based on research and experience, you’ll be surprised how effective the method is.

The constraints writing for one person puts you under will really force you to think about the kind of person you’re pitching to. You want to open the door to their motivations, their needs, and their wants. By writing for just one of them, you’re messaging will start to take on a more human tone and a more directed focus and this is one of the keys to good messaging.

Let’s take another example. Mrs Smith is a wealthy middle-aged woman who owns a home with her husband and two children. She wants to build a new dream home and has a considerable budget to play with. This will be a forever home that will stay in the family forever and she’s looking for an architect with an eye for innovative design that can deliver a blend of modern and traditional approaches to house design.

Now you can start breaking it down.

• She’s emotionally driven by this decision as it will be a home she spends the rest of her life in and will potentially be lived in by her children when she’s gone.
• The budget is large and she doesn’t want to skimp on quality.
• She’s looking for design ingenuity and that wow factor, but some level of subtlety is also needed. We’re not looking for a Buck Rogers home, more something that’s traditional at its foundation but has flourishes of modernity and innovation.

Now start crystallising your messaging out of the building blocks you know are going to be important to her. Here’s a few ideas:

• We’ll work with you to design your dream home.
• We’ll offer complete personalisation, helping you realise your vision just as you imagined it
• We work at the cutting edge of design, giving you access to the finest architectural services money can buy.
• Modern but with a traditional edge, our designs provide tasteful evolutions of traditional architectural aesthetics.

Putting it into practice

From just the understanding of this totally imaginary, albeit accurate representation of your perfect client (a representation born out of your considered research I might add), you’re able to craft compelling messages that hit home and start off a potentially lucrative business relationship.

These messages are something that you’ll build into your brand and will form the foundation of your communication, both online and off. It’s these messages that will help you build the relationships, reputation and brand qualities that will take you and your business to where you want to go.

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If you’re looking for some expert support in developing your own messaging strategy, Luma Marketing can help you discover your perfect client, get inside their head and crystallise the right message to get the enquiries rolling in.

Call us today for a free consultation.