What massages can teach you about your marketing message
Get sharp with your marketing message so people actually stop and listen amid the din of your competitors. AND buy what you’re selling. Here are 3 tips to help you.
Also: is it unethical to give a massage with wooden salad servers?
I recently spent a month in Bali. Our escape from the British winter weather. (One of the many joys of running your own online business!)
Walking along the streets my mind couldn’t help but turn to things like communication and marketing. Even a 5 minute walk will solicit dozens of offers by small business owners for massages (legit ones) and taxis (until you actually need one).
It’s a bit like surfing the net and getting loads of ads and pop-ups all yelling at you. And all yelling the same thing.
So how do you stand out from the crowd and not just be heard – but actually listened to? And get people to actually take the next step towards buying your service or product?
1. Get wayyyy more specific than just shouting ‘massage’ at everyone who walks past.
For example, we were staying in Sanur, which is by the beach. So there are lots of water sports opportunities: kitesurfing, surfing, paddle boarding.
Before Bali, we were in Phuket, Thailand where there’s loads of muay thai training – and loads of people shouting ‘massage’ at you. (Some more legit than others. Though one of the best signs I saw advertised “Laundry Lady. Drop your pants here.” Which actually turned out to be a legit laundry service. Don’t ask me how I know that… )
So how about yelling ‘sports massage’?
2 . And then get EVEN MORE specific.
What do you think will be aching after an afternoon of kite surfing? Shoulders maybe?
So you want to be yelling ‘shoulder massage!’
Or what do most of the tourists who’ll walk past have in common? Desk work or manual work probably. And what ailment do lots of desk/manual workers have? Bad back.
‘Yes, Madam, Back massage?’
This is all just an example. I’m not suggesting it’s easy for locals there to train in sports massage or anything. Or that you throw in the towel for your alternative energy consultancy and start rubbing people’s backs. Unless that’s your thing.
I know I don’t want to do that. Unless I can use wooden salad servers – like Ross from Friends… (is that allowed? Might actually be a ‘thing’ for some people and you could charge double!)
And how do you know which part of them needs massaging? Metaphorically speaking.
3. Get to know your audience so well it wouldn’t be weird to offer them a massage when you’re not even a masseuse.
Again, I’m not being literal. Put the salad servers down.
What I mean is when you know your audience really well you’ll know exactly what’s hurting. And when you know that you know exactly how you can help relieve that pain. Whether that’s your online boot camp for people who travel a lot for work or aromatherapy sports massages for mums who kite-surf.
Getting really specific about your message is, therefore, a really good prompt to get really specific about the people who’ll find your product irresistible. It’s the key to making your small business a success.
If you don’t know who exactly you are reaching out to then you need to discover that before you even consider offering metaphorical massages.
As Meredith Hill says: “When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one.”
BONUS TIP:
Whether you are a one gal show or a small company, ooze genuine personality when you’re communicating with your audience. It will help you stand out!
So, listen I’m curious: are you super specific with your marketing message and audience? Let me know in the comments below.
