The Power Of 'So What?'
A golden rule for drafting any product marketing message - when we exhaust all "so whats", we arrive at "what's in it for me".
Hello,
I am glad the last post resonated with many of you. While I wrote it in the context of product marketing but somewhere it’s true for everything in life.
Today I received yet another email from a brand that sells handcrafted products informing me about their new “handmade soap”, made from “best quality” materials.
And you know what would be the response by many like me for this kind of messaging (if at all it gets noticed) - “So What?” “Best, as in?”
Sounds rude, isn’t it? But that’s the truth.
The truth is, our customers don’t care who we are, what are we making, how much effort have we put in to build something, what materials have we used to qualify it as best unless we explicitly tell - what’s in it for them?
It was difficult for me too to accept this during the initial days of my marketing career but over a period of time I realized the importance of this question - “so what”.
This “so what” helps a marketer arrive at “what’s in it for the customer”.
I used to work on a product for which the intro message on brochures read something like - we’re India’s largest manufacturing company producing….
And after a para about the company, followed by founders’ credentials, product introduction followed. It was more of legacy content, continuing for years, and presented the company’s background in a grand way. There was nothing wrong with it, in fact, the brand had a legacy worth speaking but was that the message required on all marketing materials, especially the website - that was questionable.
I remember when I had raised this concern that no one has the time to read such long paras before getting to know what this product is all about, I had faced criticism. Thankfully over a period of time, the management got convinced and the messaging changed to “how this product can help you” on the front page and rest of the things moving to the back.
Working for legacy brands is a beautiful experience but it also has challenges of its own :).
In this attention economy age, if there is one thing that’s tough for any marketer is seeking their audience’s attention. While the choice of media and targeting strategy play a very important role, figuring out a narrative that connects with your audience is no easy task.
And it’s not about just putting few words together. There is a lot of art and science that goes behind a good narrative. Since this post is targeted towards folks new to product marketing, here’s a quick and easy tip for you that has been time tested by many marketers over the years.
Every time you come out with a marketing message for your product, do a role play, and imagine your customer asking you - “So what?”
Keep asking this “so what” till you don’t arrive at “what’s in it for me”.
Let’s take this soap example. The two key points that the email mentioned -
1. It’s handmade
Imagine the customer asking “so what?”
The potential answer could be - It’s handmade, so, its free of toxic chemicals and rich in glycerine.
“So what”?
It hydrates the skin more.
Here we have arrived - from “handmade” to “more hydrating”.
What’s in it for me? “Better hydration”.
Similarly,
2. “Best quality” materials.
“So what?”
It’s a soap made of organically produced lavender.
“So what”?
Lavender is good for the skin and reduces stress”
Ah, we got something - from generic “best quality” to “fatigue-reducing lavender”.
Call it “feature vs benefit” or “information vs transformation” communication, the key of messaging remains the same - communicate the “value” to your potential customer and try to come out with “what’s in it for me”. As long as we do that, we have lesser chances of encountering the “so whats”.
There are many reading materials available on this topic but I would like to leave you with this one historic case study of iPod. In the era when every music player was speaking about storage space and technical specifications, the iPod came with a simple line - 1000 songs in your pocket. The benefit over the feature.
Cheers to more role-plays and lesser “so whats” in your marketing journey ahead.
- Kanupriya
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*This post is the second post in a 10-posts series that I have created for Small Businesses, Passion Economy Professionals, and Solopreneurs to help them in their Product Marketing Journey. If you liked it and would like to read more, you may read the first and the third post by clicking on the respective links.
And If this post was worth your time, may I request you to help me spread the word by sharing this post? It would mean a lot to me.
Know more about ‘Connecting The Dots’ here. Looking forward to connecting the dots together :).