A Single Word Can Be Your Greatest Marketing Superpower.
Consider for a moment the words that define your organization. If you were to describe your business from the inside, what words would you or your team use? If a customer, supplier, or distributor were to describe your organization from the outside, what words would they use? Exploring these words is the first exercise we walk our clients through in OrangeBall’s Brand Bounce Bootcamp.
We know from years of asking questions and listening to businesses that marketing is one of the things that keep them up at night. An organization’s ability to communicate clearly to their customers, creating connections with words that are magnetic and engaging, is one of the biggest challenges they face. First impressions are everything, and the right brand message is key to making those impressions positive and memorable. The right words create the foundation for this.
If you’re nodding in agreement as you read the statements above, then you understand the power of the words you are using in your marketing. A single word is, in fact, extremely powerful. It can be an immediate turn-on or turn-off. It can trigger wow moments, where your customers realize you understand them, or it can create confusion. The real power comes when you string together the perfect combination of words. It sounds simple, even elementary, but when used with great intention, words can become one of the most amazing tools you can leverage.
What does your list look like?
Ok, so let’s help you create a list of the words you’d use to describe your organization. Exercise 1 from Brand Bounce Bootcamp, “Just One Word,” is designed to do this exact thing. You can download it here.
Print it out and take five minutes to jot down a list of all the words you would use to describe your organization. Then make a second list of the words your outside partners, vendors, and other connections would use. Get a little vulnerable and real with this exercise, and make sure your list includes both the positive words you would use and possibly some negative words that come to mind.
Compare the two lists and see what you find. Are the words consistent, or are there differences? Do your customers and vendors see you in a different light than you do internally? What words on this list start to differentiate you from your competitors? What words do you see on this list that make you proud?
We begin Brand Bounce Bootcamp with this exercise because the words that end up on this page will become the foundation for the marketing messages that you use online, on social media, in print, and as you are sharing your organization with someone at the next event you attend. They represent your brand vocabulary, and having these in place is the key to creating messages that engage and resonate.
Curious? Learn more about Brand Bounce Bootcamp and the impact it can have on your organization.
