Sales of new homes take off…

Those are the headlines I read in this mornings newspaper.  Since I try to avoid negative news as much as possible, I was thrilled to see something up-front and bold that was so positive.  In fact, I spent a few minutes reading through the entire article just so I could start my day off on in the positive thinking mode.  There’s a lesson to be learned here…

We are bombarded by hundreds, if not thousands, of marketing messages every day of our lives.   Not all of them are successful in getting people to move – to do what?  To buy the product of service that’s currently in front of them.  We all know –  because we get these messages via email, snail mail, TV ads, magazine ads, or whatever - that if something doesn’t grab the person’s attention right away, and make them believe that this product or service can actually make their life a little (or a lot) better, it’s going to end up in the round file very quickly.  So if the marketing message doesn’t contain a highly emotional, bold, or humorous aspect it’s likely not going to get the job done. 

In the case of the above headlines, it caught my attention because I happen to be the CFO of a construction business, and guess what?  I really care about what happens in the housing industry.  Do you know what your clients really care about?  If not, I suggest you find out and make sure your marketing messages emotionally, boldly, or humorously portray what really matters to your clients.