Does Your Message Reflect the Reality of Your Business?

As a marketing and printing company that specializes in guest services directories for the hotel industry, we often see marketing and advertising messages that don’t reflect the true nature of the business itself. In this day and age, when we’re bombarded by marketing messages all day long through a variety of media resources and opportunities, making sure that your message is heard, effective and consistent to your brand is imperative to the life of your business. No longer do statements such as “we’re the best (insert service/product name here)” work to compel your target audience to take action. Claiming to be the best in anything is easy, as most small businesses express to be so. However, should your customers find that, to them at least, you don’t have the best burger in town, or that your staff in fact is not the friendliest, you risk losing that customer and possibly open yourself up to negative reviews.

Though creating expectation and desire is a fundamental part of any marketing campaign or tactic, making sure that your business lives up to those expectations is imperative. This means that you, as the business owner, need to do a realistic audit of what makes your business unique and successful. Feel free to brag in your marketing but keep your bragging realistic, true and consistent. If you’ve been voted by readers of the local newspaper as having the best burger in town, then use that recognition as proof as your claim. But make sure that your cooks are always focused on creating that burger perfection. If your tour company is committed to being the most fun and entertaining in the area, back that up with testimonials from visitors that make that assertion for you. Pictures of happy, smiling people will bolster that message too. But be sure that your staff is on-board with always being upbeat and even vivacious in their friendliness towards your customers. If your claim is that you’ll get your client’s car back on the road in the same day, you’ll need to make sure that they never sit in your bay overnight. Make sure that your marketing message reflects the true nature of your business so that expectations are always met, making happy and returning customers.