Would you rather market your company with a generic message that sounds like every one else’s (i.e. your competitors), or would you rather stand out? Of course you’d rather stand out. But that means having a reason to stand out. Claims of better, faster, cheaper won’t get you very far. So make your company or product or service truly different.

Take Men In Kilts, for example (www.meninkilts.net). They are window washers wearing kilts driving trucks painted tartan plaid. Seriously. Now, as a potential customer, I’m going to notice this business over all the other window washers wanting my money (okay, they only want my money until they see my 80-year-old casement windows with all the individual panes/pains). Do I think my windows will be cleaner if the man washing them is dressed like a Scottish Highlander? No. Do I appreciate the fact that these guys are clever, bold and different? You bet. Are my neighbors going to notice if the man on the ladder with a squeegee is not wearing pants? Yep. Is that good for viral marketing? Uh huh.

Is this a smart marketing move? YES!

Thing is, it starts before the marketing, and that’s what so many companies don’t get. I tell people we know words, but the words are only the last 10% of your marketing communications effort. Yes, those words better be right, but if what you’re selling is boring, your copywriting is going to have a tough time trying to make it sound otherwise…without misleading.

The moral is: If you want customers to listen, have something worth saying.

Tomorrow’s topic is the other side of this coin: following through on your marketing message.