How to Multiply the Results of ANY Type of Print Advertising, Quickly and Easily, without Spending Another Dime!

Part 1: The “Mindset” of the Marketer

In my next series of columns, we’ll explore the fundamentals of HIGHLY-EFFECTIVE marketing and advertising.

Your goal is advertising pieces that ACHIEVE RESULTS and generate business for you and your school.

The FIRST step to create more effective marketing pieces is to challenge your perceptions of marketing and your business. To create HIGH-IMPACT marketing, you must have a VERY clear picture of the “Who” as well as the “What.”

The “Who”

You MUST very clearly define “Who is your IDEAL customer!”

Are you trying to attract pre-school students, the adult self-defense market, 17-to-24-year-old talented athletes, or 55+ retirees? Are you interested in acquiring mass-affluent customers or lower- to middle-income students? All these market segments have different sets of challenges and opportunities, and each segment requires a different message from you.

Once you’ve drawn a bull’s eye on your perfect client/student, you must then determine the specific benefits your school will provide to that student type.

It’s an all too common mistake to think that you can be “all things to all people.” I see ads every day from school owners with 4, 5, 6 or more SEPARATE and different messages. This is a SURE way to depress response, and cripple your results! In general, if you are communicating more than one message, then you are becoming as appealing to each segment of the market.

For example, in today’s market, the MMA craze can be found nearly everywhere. Imagine you are the mother of an 8-year-old girl, potentially interested in the martial arts for your daughter. You receive a postcard that depicts a cute 8-year-old in a Karate uniform, and a second photo of two 22-year-old MMA students, with no shirts, grappling in a cage.

Would that image make you more or less interested in the school?

This also works vice versa. If you were looking for a quality MMA program, and you received the same marketing piece, then you’d probably think the school was teaching 8-year-olds and ask yourself, “Is this the right place for me?”

Your marketing messages must be LASER-BEAM focused on EXACTLY WHO is your best customer!

The “What”

Once you’ve determined the “who,” you must then decide how you can serve them best.

The acronym W.I.I.F.M. (What’s in it for me?) encapsulates the question that your prospects are asking themselves when they look at your marketing materials. You must craft your message to speak to the needs, wants, desires, problems and pains of your prospects. EVERYTHING in your marketing piece should be about THEM…NOT YOU!

As martial artists, we are very proud of our lineage, training and résumé. The average prospect doesn’t care how many trophies you’ve won, how many titles you’ve earned, or the number of square feet of your “state-of-the-art facility.” All they care about is solving a problem that they have or want to avoid, or gaining a particular benefit from training at your school: better health, self-defense or living a more balanced life.

Start by writing some answers to the questions: “Why would someone want to be my student? What will they gain? What will they achieve? What problems can I solve for them?” The answers to these questions should be the primary messages in your marketing materials, not your résumé or pedigree!

Your next exercise is to write, or describe, the benefits of training with you in several different ways. For example, if you are describing how you’ll help your students be in better shape, you should think about how to describe:

• You’ll be in the best shape of your life.
• Your clothes will fit better…just in time for swimsuit season.
• You’ll have a greater sense of self-confidence when you walk into a room in your “skinny” jeans.

Keep in mind that prospects (rightfully) are only interested in what’s in it for them, and you’ll keep your marketing piece on the right track!

Next month, I’ll present my take on the “anatomy” of an ad.