Was Your Marketing Raised On Family Farms?
Was Your Marketing Raised On Family Farms?
I pulled out my package of chicken breast and noticed a big banner running across the top of the package that read "Raised On Family Farms". I couldn't help but think what a clever marketing tactic this was - a tactic that you and I can easily apply to our own businesses right now.
No, I wasn't raised on a family farm - northwest side of Chicago, as a matter of fact. But there's a broad marketing concept at work here. You see, the chicken wasn't organic. It wasn't fee range. It wasn't antibiotic-free. It wasn't in any way "better" chicken. It was simply raised on a farm owned by family members.
As far as I know, a family farm has no effect whatsoever on the quality of the chicken. There are no regulations that say a family farm must be more humane or ethical than a huge company. Family farms don't need to use healthier chicken feed. In fact, there are no regulations at all that say a family farm must operate any differently than a corporate-owned farm in any way.
And to further complicate the issue, when I checked out the chicken company's website, I found out it was actually a conglomeration of over 1,500 different farms. So I would imagine there is actually a huge difference in the operations amongst these family farms.
And yet "Raised On Family Farms" painted a quaint little picture in my brain of a small mom-and-pop operation, with little Sally filling her apron pockets with bird seed, singing a merry song as she happily hand feeds her chickens eagerly gathered around her. The chickens are treated just like pets and they live out their lives peacefully until it's time to go to the big chicken coop in the sky.
At least that the picture that flashed through my brain in the second or so that it took me to read the "Raised On Family Farms" banner. Because, yes, our minds do think in pictures and those pictures are often created instantaneously, without us even being aware of it. The chicken company painted a very advantageous picture in their customers' brains with a somewhat meaningless positioning statement.
So what can you do to paint a effective picture in your customers' or prospects' brains? Keep the "know-like-trust" factor in mind when you're brainstorming ideas. The family farm picture was brilliant because it touched on all of these. But even if your mental picture only touches on one factor, it can still be very powerful.
Here are a few examples to get you started:
Our client Sam was a brand new life coach. He was so new, in fact, that he hadn't even passed his certification test yet. He needed to find clients quickly, so instead of waiting for his certification to be finalized, he decided to go ahead with a new marketing campaign. Naturally, we were a little worried about the "trust" factor since he wasn't a certified coach yet. Actually, he wasn't certified in anything. He didn't even finish college. But he had taken many different classes and courses. So in his marketing materials and on his website, we created a bullet list of all the things Sam was "educated in". This huge list painted a picture of a highly-qualified coach, even though he wasn't certified yet.
Peter is a personal injury attorney, and almost no one likes personal injury attorneys. Heck, even the injured person doesn't like personal injury attorneys! Even though Peter is a very likable guy, he wasn't getting many referrals, and I thought the "ambulance chaser reputation" might have had something to do with it. So we immediately got rid of Peter's stern-faced lawyer-looking photographs and replaced them with casual pictures of Peter and his family. We took him out of his suit and tie and put him in a pair of dockers and an oxford shirt. We painted the picture of a loving, friendly family man whom clients and prospects could easily like.
Keep in mind, the value here is that the prospect or customer is creating these mental pictures. Nowhere in their marketing did the chicken company say their chicken was healthier, happier or in anyway better. We never said Sam was a certified coach, and we never said Peter was a friendly, likable guy. The prospect drew his own conclusions - and people never question their own conclusions. They simply accept them as fact.
There are dozens of ways you can paint pictures in your prospect's brain to help him draw his own conclusions about you, your product or service. Think about the words, the colors, the graphics you're using, on your website, on your business card, in your brochures, etc. What kind of instantaneous mental picture are they creating, and how can you change them to paint the picture you want your client to see?
Was Your Marketing Raised On Family Farms - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
I really enjoy cooking and baking - so if you have any good and unique recipes, do send them my way. But I don't want to talk to you about cooking today; rather, I want to talk to you about a marketing lesson I was reminded of when I went to prepare dinner the other evening.
I pulled out my package of chicken breast and noticed a big banner running across the top of the package that read "Raised On Family Farms". I couldn't help but think what a clever marketing tactic this was - a tactic that you and I can easily apply to our own businesses right now.
No, I wasn't raised on a family farm - northwest side of Chicago, as a matter of fact. But there's a broad marketing concept at work here. You see, the chicken wasn't organic. It wasn't fee range. It wasn't antibiotic-free. It wasn't in any way "better" chicken. It was simply raised on a farm owned by family members.
As far as I know, a family farm has no effect whatsoever on the quality of the chicken. There are no regulations that say a family farm must be more humane or ethical than a huge company. Family farms don't need to use healthier chicken feed. In fact, there are no regulations at all that say a family farm must operate any differently than a corporate-owned farm in any way.
And to further complicate the issue, when I checked out the chicken company's website, I found out it was actually a conglomeration of over 1,500 different farms. So I would imagine there is actually a huge difference in the operations amongst these family farms.
And yet "Raised On Family Farms" painted a quaint little picture in my brain of a small mom-and-pop operation, with little Sally filling her apron pockets with bird seed, singing a merry song as she happily hand feeds her chickens eagerly gathered around her. The chickens are treated just like pets and they live out their lives peacefully until it's time to go to the big chicken coop in the sky.
At least that the picture that flashed through my brain in the second or so that it took me to read the "Raised On Family Farms" banner. Because, yes, our minds do think in pictures and those pictures are often created instantaneously, without us even being aware of it. The chicken company painted a very advantageous picture in their customers' brains with a somewhat meaningless positioning statement.
So what can you do to paint a effective picture in your customers' or prospects' brains? Keep the "know-like-trust" factor in mind when you're brainstorming ideas. The family farm picture was brilliant because it touched on all of these. But even if your mental picture only touches on one factor, it can still be very powerful.
Here are a few examples to get you started:
Our client Sam was a brand new life coach. He was so new, in fact, that he hadn't even passed his certification test yet. He needed to find clients quickly, so instead of waiting for his certification to be finalized, he decided to go ahead with a new marketing campaign. Naturally, we were a little worried about the "trust" factor since he wasn't a certified coach yet. Actually, he wasn't certified in anything. He didn't even finish college. But he had taken many different classes and courses. So in his marketing materials and on his website, we created a bullet list of all the things Sam was "educated in". This huge list painted a picture of a highly-qualified coach, even though he wasn't certified yet.
Peter is a personal injury attorney, and almost no one likes personal injury attorneys. Heck, even the injured person doesn't like personal injury attorneys! Even though Peter is a very likable guy, he wasn't getting many referrals, and I thought the "ambulance chaser reputation" might have had something to do with it. So we immediately got rid of Peter's stern-faced lawyer-looking photographs and replaced them with casual pictures of Peter and his family. We took him out of his suit and tie and put him in a pair of dockers and an oxford shirt. We painted the picture of a loving, friendly family man whom clients and prospects could easily like.
Keep in mind, the value here is that the prospect or customer is creating these mental pictures. Nowhere in their marketing did the chicken company say their chicken was healthier, happier or in anyway better. We never said Sam was a certified coach, and we never said Peter was a friendly, likable guy. The prospect drew his own conclusions - and people never question their own conclusions. They simply accept them as fact.
There are dozens of ways you can paint pictures in your prospect's brain to help him draw his own conclusions about you, your product or service. Think about the words, the colors, the graphics you're using, on your website, on your business card, in your brochures, etc. What kind of instantaneous mental picture are they creating, and how can you change them to paint the picture you want your client to see?
Was Your Marketing Raised On Family Farms - To learn more about this author, visit Karen Scharf's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Karen's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
|
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Speed Business Networking Make $ From Your Invention Google Adwords Guide Find & Keep Profitable Clients Salesperson Selection |
|
 | ||
 |
Write The PR
Press Release Builder | |
 |
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||