Marketing Protips: 4 Simple Rules Of Effective Marketing

Firstly, use ordinary and clear language. Even if your target audience is supposedly capable of understanding, using words like “erudite” or “obfuscation” will only serve to hinder your objective of clarity. They’ll end up disconnected from you. This language could also be seen as condescending as well, which is never good for your relationship with your audience. The easiest way to think about this is to just envision that your audience is a friend, and talk to them like such. Everyone enjoys a person that’s willing to just have a casual conversation, or at least one that communicates similarly online. Be warned, though, don’t force yourself to try to relate to your audience too hard; if they get the feeling that your words are strictly grasping for their attention, the problem will be right back where it started.

Secondly, follow the “granny test” for many marketing strategies. Basically, just think about if your grandma would be able to understand your ideas. Chances are, if your grandma couldn’t understand, neither would a significant proportion of your audience. If you’re incapable of detecting this flaw preemptively, it always helps to practice. You don’t even have to use elderly people; middle-aged people or parents would probably do. Just write down a few concepts you would like you convey to your audience and share them with whoever you are practicing on. Can they understand you? If not, you now know that you should probably dumb down your ideas a bit, at least until the point at which they do.

Next, always give more than you take. It’s been scientifically proven that someone is much more willing to do something for you if you do something for them first, and it’s a similar concept here; give more away than you take, until eventually the audience will fill in the gap for you because they feel good about buying from you. If it turns out that you’re always the one asking something, the audience could feel used. When a person feels used by someone else, it’s unlikely that they’ll want to continue associating with them, and it’s no different from a business perspective. A general guideline to go buy would be to give at least three times more than you ask. This could be a free e-book, a free sample, some kind of entertainment, you name it. As long as it feels good from a consumer perspective you’re doing it right.

Finally, make sure you’re focusing on the unique selling proposition of your project. Make sure that whatever you’re trying to market has a truly unique aspect that stands out from competitors. Then, focus on nailing the point home, as well as focusing on how that aspect of the product will help make people’s lives better. For example, if you’re trying to sell a video game for instance, focus heavily on the player experience, and how fun the game is, and sell them on the positive emotions that the game will evoke after a purchase.

Important Takeaways: No matter what kind of project you’re working on, if it’s for anything but purely self-usage, you’ll want to effectively market it. Make sure you’re using ordinary language; if you induce confusion, or come off as condescending, you’ll lose a proportion of your audience. If your ideas are too complex for an elderly person to understand, there’s a good chance that a significant proportion of your audience won’t either. If you don’t know how to fix this problem before it happens, approach your target audience and pitch to them. If they blank out, that’s a good sign that you should dumb down your ideas until they don’t.

In marketing, always give more than you take; this will build trust in the consumer and they’ll feel better about buying from you in the future. If you come off as the one taking more than giving, it can make your audience feel used and thus feel bad about buying from you. Finally, make sure people know exactly what they’re getting. Don’t try to describe the future potential of your product, as that leaves uncertainty in what it does currently. Simply describe its current capabilities and how it works, and make sure your purchase process is clear and defined.

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I'm Daniel Doan, the Co-Founder of Black Shell Media. Thank you so much for reading!

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