Thread
You're in an attention war.
To win it, I recommend a messaging strategy that I stole this from the world’s most successful companies:
It involves just *two simple steps*:
“Go Narrow”
and
“Go Unique”.
Get ready to win the attention battle
👇
To win it, I recommend a messaging strategy that I stole this from the world’s most successful companies:
It involves just *two simple steps*:
“Go Narrow”
and
“Go Unique”.
Get ready to win the attention battle
👇
Step #1: Go narrow in your message
You’ll never, ever win the attention war with a blunt message
Only a sharp-edge will cut through the noise, get heard
A Twitter profile that says u tweet on “marketing + psychology” will fail over time
It's time to get sharp and get unique
You’ll never, ever win the attention war with a blunt message
Only a sharp-edge will cut through the noise, get heard
A Twitter profile that says u tweet on “marketing + psychology” will fail over time
It's time to get sharp and get unique
Here’s how you narrow your message:
Associate your business with a single idea.
Let one association dominate your brand.
Then hammer that association over and over
Let's see that at work
Associate your business with a single idea.
Let one association dominate your brand.
Then hammer that association over and over
Let's see that at work
De Beers message is super narrow:
Diamonds = Love
De Beers promotes one message and one message only.
And almost everyone on the planet knows the association: Diamonds + Love
This message has dominated their brand for decades.
And De Beers is now a $6b company
Diamonds = Love
De Beers promotes one message and one message only.
And almost everyone on the planet knows the association: Diamonds + Love
This message has dominated their brand for decades.
And De Beers is now a $6b company
More examples of the narrow message, singular focus:
Canva: “Quick, easy design templates”.
TED: “Spread ideas”.
Pixar: “Computer animation”.
Spotify: Streaming music
Eventbrite: Ticketing
Mailchimp: Email marketing automation.
All are one thing repeated over and again
Canva: “Quick, easy design templates”.
TED: “Spread ideas”.
Pixar: “Computer animation”.
Spotify: Streaming music
Eventbrite: Ticketing
Mailchimp: Email marketing automation.
All are one thing repeated over and again
The narrow message works because:
-Singular idea = sharp
-Clump of ideas = blunt
-Sharp cuts through
-Blunt does not
-Sharp makes an impression - a psychological imprint that
-Clumps do not
And it gets even better:
-Singular idea = sharp
-Clump of ideas = blunt
-Sharp cuts through
-Blunt does not
-Sharp makes an impression - a psychological imprint that
-Clumps do not
And it gets even better:
A singular message is *realistic*
If you're going to be remembered at all, it’ll be for one thing
Being remembered for a clump of things ain’t gonna happen
Stretching your message too thin will actually hurt your biz
[It may explain a low conversation rate on Twitter]
If you're going to be remembered at all, it’ll be for one thing
Being remembered for a clump of things ain’t gonna happen
Stretching your message too thin will actually hurt your biz
[It may explain a low conversation rate on Twitter]
When he released the iPod, Steve Jobs hammered a single idea , relentlessly:
“1,000 songs in your pocket”
20 yrs later we still remember
Basic psychology
-Focus on one, narrow thing
-Repeat the message
Every time
“1,000 songs in your pocket”
20 yrs later we still remember
Basic psychology
-Focus on one, narrow thing
-Repeat the message
Every time
So, a singular message is a great start
It says exactly what you do and why anyone should care
But beware:
If thousands of others use the same focus, however narrow, then the message won’t stand out
You’ll look like more-of-the-same.
Which takes us to the 2nd step
It says exactly what you do and why anyone should care
But beware:
If thousands of others use the same focus, however narrow, then the message won’t stand out
You’ll look like more-of-the-same.
Which takes us to the 2nd step
Step #2: Make the message unique:
-Define your business as a category-of-one
-Then let the message flow from there:
-Unique biz
-In a unique category
-With a unique message.
When buyers think “wedding rings”, De Beers may be the only item in their minds for that category
-Define your business as a category-of-one
-Then let the message flow from there:
-Unique biz
-In a unique category
-With a unique message.
When buyers think “wedding rings”, De Beers may be the only item in their minds for that category
Note:
Step #1:
De Beers owns the association diamonds + love
Step #2:
De Beers defined the category - yrs ago
At that time, both the message and the category were unique
No other organization in the world was claiming that category
To this day, De Beers owns the category
Step #1:
De Beers owns the association diamonds + love
Step #2:
De Beers defined the category - yrs ago
At that time, both the message and the category were unique
No other organization in the world was claiming that category
To this day, De Beers owns the category
The category-of-one singles your brand out
It separates you from the pack
It says there is nothing else like you out there
It brings, manages attention
So, to win the messaging and attention battles
Go Narrow + Go Unique
It separates you from the pack
It says there is nothing else like you out there
It brings, manages attention
So, to win the messaging and attention battles
Go Narrow + Go Unique
Twitter examples of the narrow message:
@RobLennon Audience Growth
@bbourque Scaling startups
@Sachin Hypervisuals
@GrammarHippy Copythinking
@HarrisFanaroff - Employee Onboarding
@devinmcpaul Writing threads
@RobLennon Audience Growth
@bbourque Scaling startups
@Sachin Hypervisuals
@GrammarHippy Copythinking
@HarrisFanaroff - Employee Onboarding
@devinmcpaul Writing threads
Tldr
Narrow & unique are key to messaging
#1: Narrow:
Create 1 association for your brand
Hammer relentlessly
1 idea:
-Cuts through
-Gets remembered
#2: Unique message:
Create a category of one
Let the message flow from there
Customer associates you with that solution
Narrow & unique are key to messaging
#1: Narrow:
Create 1 association for your brand
Hammer relentlessly
1 idea:
-Cuts through
-Gets remembered
#2: Unique message:
Create a category of one
Let the message flow from there
Customer associates you with that solution
