“Dead or alive
you’re marketing
with me”
Robocop
The marketing one-liner.
In the following article, I want to talk about how a one-liner can really create curiosity for your product or service. I want to help teach how to write the one liner, and my theories on why I would write them.
How are marketing relationships built.
Marketing relationships are built with the following
1 Curiosity
2 Enlightenment
3 Commitment
Curiosity can lead you to think that you’re going to have status. You need to associate your product with something that will help your customer survive. Make people curious and then enlighten them.
Enlightenment comes after a customer trusts you. If people are confused about how a product or service can help them, they won’t be interested. If people are confused they move away towards somewhere safe, as confusion can be a sign of imminent death, it’s instinctual.
Although we should try to ask for a purchase commitment from the customer, if things move too quickly, people get scared, just like in a relationship, or when a used car salesman pounces on you when you enter the forecourt. None of us wants to be manipulated into giving away our resources or being ripped off by that sleazy car salesman.
A natural pace of a relationship with a customer means 8 touch points before they are ready to buy, once you have the customer’s email, using this is the best way to create those touchpoints.
Using an email provider such a mailchimp you’re able to track all kinds of data that help you understand what part of the buyer journey the customer is on.
How many times a customer has opened an email, the same email.
When they opened it.
A list of all the customers that have read the email.
How long do they spend in the email.
And many more
The three main things you need to write in all your messaging copy.
1 What problems are you solving for the customer.
2 What will the customer’s life look like once you do.
3 What consequences does your product help customers avoid.
Be clear in messaging, don’t be overly smart.
The one-liner
A one liner is an impressively concise introduction to your business. It should be between 2 and 3 statements, but not too much more than that – too much would be too complicated and easy to ignore. The one liner should be reflective of your overall brand messaging and positioning. It should be something that people can easily remember and recognize, and it should make them feel something.
The one liner makes people lean in, one way to do this is to start with the problem. The faster you get to the problem the quicker you hook the customer in.The customer is facing the problem head on and so should your copy, in order for you to connect with the customer.
Think about what makes your brand unique and why people should care about it. What will resonate with your target audience? Keep it simple and make sure it packs a punch.
Your story brand one liner is an essential part of your branding strategy – so make sure it’s strong!
Pharma example:
The example in red doesn’t actually explain how you solve the problem. The second example in green, gives a better clearer explanation.
Lawnmower company:
This opens you up to questions about satellites and robots, this has already made the customer start to think just a little bit too much about what the company does, its processes etc. Overly clever and wordy language is almost always the enemy of clear marketing messaging.
Clarity sells while cute and clever confuse.
Good examples:
Bad examples:
Overly clever language shouldn’t be a replacement for clarity of your marketing message. Whilst you want to describe what you do, you don’t want to explain everything in the one liner either.
Marketing agency:
When writing your one liner make sure the success you sell is directly linked to the problem you stated earlier.
Dentist office
When writing your one liner make sure the success you sell is directly linked to the problem you stated earlier.
Bike store
Your one liner needs to be said out loud and still sound good, don’t be afraid to change things up, is it easy to remember, if not reword, check with people to make sure it’s simple. If you read it to them and and they have to ask “what do you mean” then it’s too difficult, which is confusing them. Confused customers are going to run to a competitor who does create clarity in their marketing message.
Where does you one liner go?
It should go in as many places as possible
- Back of a business card.
- In an email signature.
- The first section in the about us.
- Profile descriptions on social media.
- The website