Three Questions To Ask Before Starting Any Project
By Joe Ferry on Mar 31, 2008 in Featured, Marketing Communications | comments(0)
Before starting any comunications project, I ask my client to answer three key questions:
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Who is Your Audience?
What is Your Message?
What is your Goal?
Let’s take them one at a time.
Who is You Audience? It’s surprising how many clients think in broad terms when answering this question. They tend to think in geographic terms like “people hwo live in Bucks County” or “American citizens.” As a persuasive writer, those parameters are too vague for me. Usually, I ask my client to describe their typical client. That’s when they become much more specific and I get some sense of the audience they are trying to reach.
What Is Your Message? This sounds pretty simple but most clients have no clue about what their marketing message should be. They usually say things such as “Our prices are low.” or “Our products are great.” Again, far too fuzzy and indistguishable. A marketing message should be clear and consistent.
What is Your Goal? I push for realistic, tangible, measurable goals so we know if the marketing message is getting through to the appropriate audience. That way, we can adjust, if necessary. If we’re falling short, perhaps we fine tune the message or the narrow audience. If we reach the goals quickly, perhaps we have set the bar too low.
If you get good, solid answers to those three questions before embarking on a communications project, chances are the process will go smoothly and your client will be happy with the results.
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