The Importance of Clarity in Marketing

Do You Know Where Your Business is Going and Why It’s Going There?

When I started college way back in the day, I thought writing papers was hard. I would have an idea of what I wanted to write, but I struggled with the actual writing. I didn’t understand it. I knew the topic well enough to talk about it. But when it came to writing, it was a disaster. I hated doing it.

I had a professor who helped me out with my writing skills. For that, I am truly thankful. His help led me to create my own approach to writing academic papers that I called “The Hourglass Writing Style”. That approach literally followed a template. I could write out my thoughts on notecards, organize them in stacks that represented paragraphs in the formulaic order, and then grab a stack and type the paragraph almost verbatim into WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS (yes, it was that long ago). 

I called this my “plug-and-chug” method of writing that almost guaranteed at least a “B” on a paper, provided that you followed the formula. Once I had this under my belt, writing papers became much easier. 

The reason this method worked so well was because it gave me clarity. I knew exactly what I needed to do and how it needed to be done before I sat down. That meant I knew what kind of information I was looking for in my research before I even began. The Hourglass Writing Style transformed a dreaded chore into an enjoyable and successful game. All because it brought me clarity. 

The Importance of Clarity in Marketing

If you aren’t clear about who you are as a business, then your marketing is going to be a mess. You’re going to be sending half-messages, mixed messages, and sometimes even contradictory messages. If you were to chat with someone who sent those kinds of signals, how likely would you be to trust them? A lack of clarity naturally generates mistrust. People like to feel safe. Confusing sources of information aren’t safe. That’s part of why clarity helps you generate the trust necessary to attract potential clients. 

So let’s start looking at some ways you can start to improve your clarity in marketing. 

Know Who You Are

Clarity in marketing begins with being honest with ourselves. This is one of the most difficult things for humans to do. We tend to overestimate our strengths and ignore our weaknesses. Oftentimes, we operate in ways that develop other strengths, and we don’t even notice them because they are just a part of the stuff that we do

It’s vital that you become aware of who you are. I recommend listing out both your strengths and weaknesses. There’s something to writing it down that makes it more real and harder to hide from.

When you write out your strengths, remember that this is what you want to focus your business on. If you enjoy collaborating with people, you want to make working with others central to your business model. Maybe coaching is for you. Or, if your business is going to be more technical (such as the creation of websites), then you might want to build in more collaborative sessions in the process. 

When you get to your weaknesses, pay special attention. A lot of things you do as an entrepreneur are just necessary, whether you like to do them or not. When you become aware of the things you struggle with, you can manage them so they aren’t as draining. For example, you might block off smaller chunks of time so that you can be free of the chore sooner and move onto more enjoyable work. 

Also, identify what you need emotionally to keep you going. Sometimes, these are the little things in life. Maybe you need to keep learning. Maybe you need to hear good things about your work? Maybe you need to see the money go into the bank. Try to build opportunities for whatever it is into your schedule. You want to find ways to keep your emotions up so you stay productive and enjoy working in your business.  

Getting Clear About Who You Want to Work With

I recommend you don’t just work with anyone who contacts you. If you end up with a bad fit, things can go awry quickly. 

You want to align what you offer with what your clients need before they even contact you. If you are in the business of dog walking, make sure that the people who hire you are looking for someone to walk their dogs. You don’t want to find out later that they expected you to train their dog to walk nicely on a leash for them. That’s a surefire way to have an unhappy customer. Be clear in all your marketing what you do so people know what they are getting (and what they are not getting). 

But even if you have what people are looking for, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good match. You still have to take into account your personalities. Sometimes, people just don’t work well together. You want to attract personalities that dovetail well with yours. (If you want to read a blog about how you can leverage your personality to connect with similar personalities, here you go.)

Why You Don’t Want to Skip Over This

You don’t want to wake up one day and find yourself working on and in a business that you aren’t enjoying. So, when you decide to set up your own business, it’s important to check in and really get a sense of where you are with all this. Of course, you will refine your understanding of who you are as a business. That’s just part of growth. But the best time to start is before you begin.

And if you’ve already begun, it’s something you will want to check in with regularly throughout the year to keep yourself going in the right direction. After all, clarity in marketing isn’t something you achieve just once. It’s something you have to constantly update.