Miss Messaging

Admit it. We are all judgmental. What makes us judgmental? I believe it is messaging.

What is messaging? Well, in common jargon, messaging can be anything from a text message to a Facebook message to a tweet. In interpersonal jargon, messaging can be anything from how you fold your arms to the tone of your voice to the color of your socks. And, in marketing jargon, messaging is knowing your audience and conveying an idea, opinion or product in a way they understand. 

How can you make your message effective? Well. It isn't as easy as putting a minimum wage employee into a banana costume and having him hold up a "Buy One J****, Get One Free!" sign. (Let's keep this objective.) Messaging takes a few keep principles:

• Research
• Time
• Experience
• Asking a lot of questions
• Making assumptions and drawing conclusions

One of the best things I learned in my marketing classes is "You find out what consumers want and then you make the products. You don't make the products and try to market it to the consumer." In innovative times such as today, before we start a small business, invest in a big company or participate in a non-profit organization, we should all consider this statement.

What are some useless products you have seen? What kind of messaging have they done to promote their product, business or service?

Here are a few that I have seen:

• I need this.
• Of course I need this.
• Who doesn't need this?