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How to Get Super Specific With Your Messaging

how to get super specific with your marketing message

Did You Save Room for Dessert?  

A server shows you how getting Super Specific can change the results of your Marketing messages.

You want your Marketing messages to appeal to everyone, right?!?

WRONG!

Trying to appeal to everyone just waters down your message to very general-sounding language. Unfortunately, general-sounding language won’t help anyone self-identify with what you’re communicating.

Effective marketing messages should appeal ONLY to your targeted prospective customers. Everyone else sees that you’re not talking to them, and they opt out.

Since you only want your specific prospective customers to engage with you, your language in your message needs to be very specific.

But how specific is specific enough?

Most of us have a long way to go.

Here’s a recent example from Donald Miller (bestselling author of Building a Storybrand) that illustrates the point.

Imagine you’re at dinner with your spouse and two other couples and you just finished your meal.

Your server approaches the table and says, “Looks like you guys really cleaned up, did anyone leave room for dessert?”

What are the chances you’re having dessert? Maybe 10%?

What if instead, your server says, “Looks like you guys really cleaned up. We have a gooey chocolate cake that is really good, did anyone leave room for dessert?”  

Now, what are the chances you’re having dessert? Maybe 25%?

How about if your server says, “Looks like you guys really cleaned up, but I’ve got to tell you, the chef makes a gooey chocolate cake once a month. There are 10 slices left.  Did anyone leave room for dessert?”

Now we’re up over 50%, right?

What about your server says, “Looks like you guys really cleaned up, but I’ve got to tell you, the chef makes a gooey chocolate cake once a month. There are 10 slices left. I recommend that the 6 of you get 2 slices and each of you gets a couple of bites.  Can I bring that to your table?”

95% chance you’re now having dessert!

Just by changing the words and getting Super Specific, your likelihood of having dessert went from 10%, to just about a sure thing.

3 Keys to Super Specific Messaging

Here are the three keys for you to start applying this example to your messaging:

  1. Identify the nature of your best customer and be Super Specific, i.e., people in a group who all shared table appetizers and then completely finished their meals within a certain period of time.
  2. Craft a thoughtful offer that is also Super Specific, i.e., the 10 slices left from the chef’s monthly batch of gooey chocolate cake.
  3. Tell your customer what they should do to take advantage of the offer and yes, make sure your instructions are also Super Specific, i.e., I recommend that the 6 of you get 2 slices to share.

Hopefully, this helps you see how being Super Specific can dramatically increase your chances of getting positive results from your messaging!