What is the Strategic Marketing Program?

You need to implement the Strategic Marketing Program today! Becuase there’s enough business in your market right now for you to double or triple your revenue in the next year alone. The customers are just sitting out there right now waiting for you to claim what is rightfully yours. The reason you’re not closing those sales right now is because all of your marketing and advertising is lame and ineffective and I’m going to prove it to you.

Hi, my name is Shea Ellison, and I am the President and Founder of Strategic Marketing Consultants. In this program, I’m going to pull back the curtain for you on a complete marketing system that when executed properly will cause your prospects to realize that you are the only company in your industry with which they should be doing business. In fact, I will show you exactly how you can demonstrate doing business with your company will be so obvious to your prospects that they quickly come to this conclusion, “I’d have to be absolutely CRAZY to work with anyone else but you, regardless of the price.”

The system I’m going to share with you is called the Strategic Marketing Program and it is unique in our industry because it’s a comprehensive program.

It’s not about one or more clever or unique marketing tactics that will increase your business incrementally. As a matter of fact, I am absolutely sure that you have never seen or heard anything like this before. In fact, you’re going to find that the Strategic Marketing Program™ is so comprehensive in nature that it will ensure that your company becomes number one in your industry in your local market. When I say number one, I mean you will crush your competition!

During this program, you are going to learn everything that you need to know so that you can rise to a place of Total Market Dominance.
I am going to show you how you can become the 800-pound gorilla in your industry and in your market and acquire all the benefits that come with being the market leader.

Throughout this presentation I will demonstrate to you the problems with your existing marketing and advertising, the neural and psychological basis for effective marketing, the only way to achieve what we call “total marketing synergy.” I will provide you with the solutions that you can start implementing tomorrow to set you on course for Total Market Dominance. In fact, I will guarantee that after listening to this audio program, if you believe you haven’t learned anything worthwhile enough to earn back triple what you’ve invested in this audio program, I’ll give you 110% of your money back. Therefore, there is absolutely no risk on your part in listening. There is no downside.

Now rather than take a few minutes to provide you with formal introduction of who I am and what is my background, I hope you don’t mind that I just jump in and start demonstrating that value I have been talking about. Additionally, I will be using a plenty of real-world examples and case studies throughout this program. This is not just theory. I also want to ensure you that every example deals with genuine businesses in the real world. All the examples are 100% true. Only the names have been changed for privacy purposes.

Now, before we get started in explaining the details of the Strategic Marketing Program, I need to share with you the two most common marketing mistakes that nearly all business make. If you’ve done any advertising or marketing for your business ever, at all, I can virtually guarantee you that you have been making at least one of the following two marketing mistakes.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve been doing business for 5, 15, 25, 35 years or more and have been getting what most people would consider pretty good results. I’m here to tell you that these two mistakes have cost you a lot of money and lost opportunity and lost business. I’m not just blowing smoke here to capture your attention. This is the Real Deal.

In fact, I want you to get some of your marketing material right now. Be it a brochure, a radio script, a TV ad, a magazine ad, a website, whatever it is get access to it right now. Evaluate it for yourself as I describe these two mistakes. I want you to objectively judge your own marketing and advertising and make a determination for yourself whether or not what I’m saying has value. Are you ready, [pause, pause, pause] let’s begin? (If you can’t access your materials right now, be sure to do this later. I promise it will be an eye-opening experience.)

Mistake #1 is using one of the forbidden phrases.

So, what are the three forbidden phrases? Well, they are phrases that use platitudes. In marketing, platitudes are literally the kiss of death. So, let me give you the definition of a platitude as it pertains to marketing. Platitudes are words or phrases that are dull, obvious, or predictable, that lack power to create interest, that are overused and not original that are nevertheless still commonly used as if they were unique or distinctive. Let me give you some examples of platitudes. They are words and phrases like highest quality, best service, largest selection, gets the job done right the first time, 30 years of experience, North America’s largest provider, been in business since 1776, honest hard working, you’ve tried the rest now try the best, number one, more than 7,000 doctors have chosen us, your dealer of choice, state of the art, blah, blah, blah. Do these sound familiar? Of course, they do. You’ve heard this kind of junk for years, but now here’s the killer question. Do you have these terms in your marketing? I bet you do.

And I don’t even know you, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet the farm on the fact that your advertisements and marketing are loaded with platitudes just like these right now.

Take a look for yourself. Now, here’s the deal. These platitudes that fill up your marketing and advertising are killing your profits and destroying your market opportunities. You see, these platitudes don’t distinguish or separate you in the marketplace. They don’t quantify or specify anything. They’re not believable. They’re usually not provable and they cause your prospects to minimize, discount, disbelieve, or worst of all completely ignore you altogether. Ultimately, your target market ends up believing that you and your business are just like everybody else in your industry. This is why your target market always ends up grinding you on price; regardless of how great you claim your service is or how much better you think you are than your competitors. None of that matters because you have introduced yourself to the marketplace as one more scoop of vanilla in a whole sea of vanilla. Now, I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with vanilla. In fact, I love vanilla. What I am saying is if you are perceived as being vanilla, just like everyone else, the only real message that you are portraying to your target market is “me too.” Now, think about how pitiful that is. You see, this is why you’re not dominating your market, and this is why your sales and revenue are dependent upon the force of the market, and not your ability to win over more and more customers to dominate your sector. That’s a big difference.

So, let me break this down further for you by using some objective evaluations so you can determine if you really are using platitudes in your advertisements or not. I want to take you through three platitudes evaluations that come directly out of Rich Harshaw’s book Monopolize Your Marketplace. Rich Harshaw is a living, marketing genius and I have been fortunate to train with him directly.
So, let’s review these three evaluations which expose what we call the three forbidden phrases.

Platitude evaluation #1 is called, “Well, I would hope so.”

Yep, that’s the name of the evaluation.
So, here’s the deal. Look at the statements and phrases in your advertising and then ask yourself this question: Could or would my prospects immediately respond to these statements by saying, “Well, I would hope so.” For example, I am looking right now at a couple of ads for plumbers. This one says, we’ll find it and we’ll fix it. “Well, I would hope so, you’re a plumber for crying out loud.” or how about this incredible headline: Plumbing service and repair. Well, I would hope so. You are a plumber, right? “I can’t believe it. This plumber here does “plumbing service and repair”. Oh, look, honey, let’s call him instead of one of the other 50 plumbers who also do plumbing service and repair.”

Or check this ad out which says: “Licensed, bonded, and insured. We fix faucets and fixtures for water heaters, tubs, and showers, etc.“ Well, I would hope so, you’re a plumber. What else would you do? I mean it’s so painfully obvious that it’s ridiculous.

Or how about this common statement that says: Committed to honest, ethical service. “Well, I would hope so.” What else would you expect them to say? “Hey, we’re lousy. We’ll show up late and make your house dirty. We’ll show our backsides to your kids and wife and make sure that the problem that we fix will break again a few weeks after we fix it.” Of course not. Everybody’s going to say great things about themselves if they can get away with it.

Do you see how ridiculous these statements are? Yet, everyone uses them including you. The biggest problem here is the fact that your true Identity and your true strengths – the real benefits that your customers get from doing business with you over your competitors – can never shine when you use platitudes. So, take a look at your advertising, especially all of your printed advertising and marketing materials, including your website. Would they pass the Well I Would Hope So evaluation or are they full of platitudes? If you’re using platitudes then you need to make changes. Or at least you better hope and pray that one of your competitors doesn’t get a hold of this audio program. This is evaluation number one. Let’s go to the other two evaluations.

Platitude evaluation #2 is Who Else Can Say That?

Now, pay close attention to this one because the question is not who else can do what you do, but who else can say what you say. The answer is usually ANYONE and EVERYONE. Here’s a painter that says that he is “Georgia’s Best.” REALLY??? Who else can say that? Now, this guy might actually be the best in Georgia or the best in the entire universe for all I know, but do you actually believe it just because he said it? I mean who else can say that? Can’t the guy on the next website in Google search results where I saw this one who says, “Where integrity and quality meet.” Can’t he also say that he is Georgia’s best? Of course, he can. See, these statements are dull and obvious. They lack power to create interest because they are overused and unoriginal and you know what, they were nevertheless used as if they were unique and distinctive.

Now, look at your website; Read a few lines and then ask yourself this: “Who else can say that?” If one of your competitors can say it, then you failed this evaluation. Now, one of the most common platitudes in marketing and advertisements is to tell us how long you’ve been in business. Everybody thinks it matters, but I promise you it doesn’t.
Here’s an illustration. I’m looking at a website for a chiropractor who thinks you should visit his practice because he’s been a chiropractor for over 29 yrs. Well, who else can say that? Well, how about his competitor who has the next listing in Google who has been serving her patients for over 30 yrs. See what I mean? In fact, I want you to go online right now and type in any local industry to see what you’ll find on other companies’ websites. Look up attorneys, mechanics, financial advisors, doctors, surgeons, banks, contractors, designers, manufacturers, architects, technology companies, software companies, or any industry imaginable and compare them to their competitors, who are also on the first page of Google, and see what you’ll find.

What you’re going to find is that everybody is using almost identical marketing statements. They’re all platitudes. Everybody is saying what everybody else is saying, meaning that the marketplace has to assume that everybody is basically the same. Therefore, the only thing that should matter is PRICE. Well, do you hate getting grinded on price? Do you constantly feel like you need to offer a discount? Well, now you know why. It’s because you’ve become a master of the platitudes over the years.

So, let’s move on to the third evaluation which often hurts the most because with this one it all becomes very apparent that folks have a marketing problem.

Platitude evaluation #3 is called the Cross Out/Write-In Test.

For this evaluation, we’re going to have you cross out the name of your company in your advertisement and then write in the name of your boldest competitor. Cross out. Write in. Get it, now tell me this. Is the ad still valid? If so, you’ve just failed the test. Another way to illustrate this is to do it in reverse. Cross out your competitor’s name and replace it with your company’s name in their marketing. Now, tell me is the marketing still valid?
I mean really, I don’t care if you absolutely know if you have higher quality than your competitor because your competitor can still say that they have higher quality than you, even if it’s not true. I can give you hundreds of other examples for insurance companies that can give you fast easy quotes or dentist who offers complete dental care or landscape contractors who cut to perfection, but the bottom line is that none of these ads pass the Cross Out/Write-In test or any of the other platitude evaluations.

Now, when we implement the Strategic Marketing Program into your business, one of the first things we do is remove all the platitudes from your existing advertising and marketing. We help you identify what it is that makes you truly unique in the marketplace – your identity. We’ve got to provide details as to who we are, what we’re about, and what customers can expect when doing business with us. We’ve got to do this with power, precision, and passion. But not just in a sales environment. We’ve got to communicate this through all of your marketing, on your website, in your advertising, at your trade shows, in your mailers, wherever you’ve got a message out there. We want prospects to think to themselves “This is who I want to do business with.” “This is who I want to give my money to.” You’ve got to make yourself the obvious choice to do business with. You want your prospects to come to the conclusion “I would have be absolutely CRAZY to do business with anyone else but you – regardless of price.”

You see, as I’ve already mentioned, platitudes cause your marketplace to assume that you and your competitors are all the same. That’s probably not true. You can have the best business of your kind in your industry, but since your marketing and your competitors’ marketing all use platitudes, the marketplace can’t tell who actually offers the best value.

So, they call you up and ask you the same question that you’re probably sick of hearing, which is “How much do you charge?” My friend, it doesn’t have to be that way. Let me give you one last example. Take a look at one of your company’s brochures. What’s on the top of the front cover? More than likely, you’ve put your company name and logo there. If you did, you just failed the exam. Let me explain why? Nobody cares who you are until they know what you can do for them.

Here’s another secret. Instead of putting your company name or logo on the front cover of your brochure, you should put a hot button loaded headline that emotionally connects to your prospects and makes them beg to read the content on the inside. I’ll explain what I mean about this and exactly how to do it in this audio program. This holds true for your website too. So, is this making sense to you as you listen? Is it starting to become evident that using platitudes is causing a problem for you right now and that you would have a major competitive advantage if you knew how to fix it? Well, I’m going to review the Strategic Messaging Formula™ for you a little bit later in this program and I’m going to show you exactly how to fix this problem and get rid of PLATITUDES forever. I am going to teach you how to become a communication’s expert so you can start getting the results from your marketing that you should be getting. So, now let’s move on to the second most common marketing mistake.

The second most common marketing mistake that businesses make is what we call Fragmented or Piece Meal Marketing. This is absolutely the wrong approach to marketing, yet it is the most common approach in business today. Everybody’s doing it, including you, and your competitors. The good news, or bad news if you’re slow, is the first one to fix this problem basically wins. Seriously. Now, let me explain fragmented marketing, which is the wrong way to do it, in contrast to what we call systematized marketing, which is the right way of doing it. Fragmented marketing means that there is no cohesive message or comprehensive system handling your marketing for you. Instead, when you buy marketing or advertising, it is developed by the company creating the ad. Think back to the last advertisement or marketing piece that you created for your company. What was it? A brochure a website, a printed ad, a radio spot – so, now let me ask you a question. Who created the final product for you? They did. The radio station created your radio spot. The magazine created your magazine ad. The design company created your brochure. The web design company created the website. The video production company created the content for your video. Right? Think about how fragmented that makes your marketing efforts. All those different companies have different ideas about what your marketing message should be based on their limited experience.

Inevitably, they all use platitudes and then they try to throw in their own dose of creativity. Think about how wrong this is. You need to develop and own your own message. You shouldn’t leave it to others, and you certainly shouldn’t leave it to multiple teams of others who don’t really have your best interest in mind, nor do they care about your position in the marketplace. This is why you need a marketing system in place. The system dictates the content of the advertisements, and it dictates the process or the sequence that your prospects go through and the message that the prospects hear as they are ultimately led to your door. A systematized marketing system would actually facilitate the decision-making process. In other words, it would define what criteria your prospects should look for in your company, product, or service and in doing so, it would lead them to buy from you and not your competitor.

Here’s another question to identify this problem. Take a look at your last advertisement. I know, it’s filled with platitudes. Here’s the question.

How much money did you pay to have the content of that advertisement strategically crafted and formulated to ensure maximum results? I’m not talking about the design. I’m talking about the content – the message. What you actually said in the advertisement and not what it looks like. See, that’s what I thought. You paid nothing, right? 99.9% of the time, you only paid to have the advertisement produced or designed or you paid for the spots or airtime. The content was usually just thrown together by the designer, the production team, or the salesperson. Think about it. The most important part of your marketing material – that is the content and message -was put together for free by people who usually have no idea how to create good magnetic messaging anyway.

Have you ever heard the saying, “You Get What You Pay For?” Well, I hate to tell you this, but if you’ve never paid anyone to create the actual message or content for you in your advertising campaigns, then you got what you paid for. So, here’s the point. When you think of marketing, you need to start thinking about your message. You need to think about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it. When you think of marketing, don’t think of mediums anymore. Think of messaging. Only once you have the right message should you then start thinking about which mediums to run your marketing in. You see, this is the difference between a marketing system and typical fragmented marketing. A marketing system considers first the message. Then it develops the message and installs the message in a comprehensive marketing system which facilitates the prospects decision making process. Finally, it chooses the best mediums to put those messages in to generate leads to pump into the system. Do you see how much more effective that is than typical fragmented marketing? Now, in this audio program, I’m going to show you how you can use the Strategic Marketing Program to build and develop your own complete marketing system so that you can ultimately achieve what we call Comprehensive Marketing Synergy.
I know that it will be an “ah ha” moment for you where the light bulb really does go on.

Check back in for my next post to learn more eye-opening tips and strategies.

Want to learn more?  Checkout my podcast