What’s your message this Christmas?

Christmas is a great time to chill out and relax, get to the beach and, what I love most, is to get creative. I find the downtime away from the office is a great time to let the daily stresses of work wash away. In the space that is left, the creative plans for the next year start to roll in like the waves.

Many of my ideas will revolve around what I will be doing with my business in 2015. This will include the systems we use but also how will I structure my messaging for my marketing. Like the plumber with the leaky tap, I find it easier often to help my clients with their message strategy than to do it for myself. I guess being too close to your own business can complicate the topic.

So to help myself and you, here’s the advice I’d give a client if they were thinking about their business and marketing plans for 2015.

One of the common mistakes I see is a poorly crafted message, especially in video production. I’m not sure if it’s because some people are just excited about using the technology and lose track of why they are using it.

So here are my Christmas tips for truly resonating with your target audience in 2015.

1. Know your audience.

Who are the people you want to be connecting with? What do they need? What are their pains and problems that you can solve? The more focused you are on who you are dealing with the stronger your message will be.

2. Have a clear message

Make sure your message is relevant to your audience. Make sure it is something they will be interested in. The more clearly you can identify their problems (ask them if you don’t know!) and align your solution, the easier it will be to see the value in what you offer.

3. Be concise

Today’s audience has a short attention span; especially with video. So keep it short and to the point. Grab their attention, connect with them and encourage them to ask for more. Avoid trying to include everything you do and know. Keep it specific to the problem you are solving at the time. Think about what you want them to do as a result of watching your video. Your information needs to lead them to that point.

4. It’s not about you

As tempting as it is to tell your target market all about what you do and how you do it, they don’t really care. They want to know how you can help them with their issues. They’ll assume you know the technicalities of how to do that. So focus on what they need and how you can help them.