Your potential customers don’t have the time to sift through your business jargon. That’s where you come in…tada! Marketing departments must craft messages to earn customer trust. I have been thinking a lot about content lately and have developed the “Grandma Test” when creating marketing campaigns. If you think your message can influence a wise, older person, you will be on track for great marketing.
Warning – If you talk down to your customers, you will not earn their trust. Broken trust is typically a main reason most customers leave and look at your competition.
3 Objectives of Impactful Marketing Messages
1. Can Grandma Read the Message?
Are you using too many 5 and 6 syllable words and obscure language in your marketing? Marketers love the thesaurus, but does it make sense?
2. Can Grandma Understand the Message?
Does your marketing message have a goal? It should, and sometimes it is about solving problems, not a hard-core product sell.
3. Can Grandma RELAY this Message?
Are you crafting something unique in your print and online copy? Can the message be relayed in other words without losing the message? Your message needs to be memorable and interesting, or you lose impact.
Look at your website/flyers/brochures. If you are in healthcare, are your materials full of clinical terms? If you are in science and technology, can you simplify the general terms?
If marketing doesn’t pass the “Grandma Test”; go back to the drawing board and revise.
