Search Engine Marketing: The Science of Marketing in 140 Characters

One of the more unusual things Doug Richard recommends is that startups keep their initial products or services very simple. They should focus on a delivering just one or two very desirable features to a well defined target market. This flies in the face of the instinct most entrepreneurs have to deliver a full featured product or service to their potential customers They fear that a simple product just won’t be enough…

One reason that simple but useful products and services often prove more successful than their arguably “better” competitors is that they are far easier to market. Small businesses and startups rarely have enough money to buy large quantities of advertising or to invest in vast public relations campaigns required to educate writers and editors about all the features of a sophisticated product. They don’t have armies of marketeers or millions of customers to discuss features at length in social media venues. If you can’t buy much attention from the market, the message you send has to be very effective and very tightly targeted.

When you think about your product or service during development, it pays to think of how you’ll describe it in 140 characters. That’s the length of a Twitter message. An SMS message is just 160 characters. A Google Ad can have a maximum of 130 characters including the characters allocated to the URL. Most press release sites limit you to around 100 characters in your headline, though some accept as many as 200 characters.

If you design your key marketing messages to be something you can deliver in about 140 characters, you have a message the Internet will find easy to understand and carry. It is best if your marketing message effectively identifies its target market or its industry as well as it’s key value.

• FEDEX: When it absolutely, positively, has to be there overnight (70 characters)
• Choosey Mothers Choose Jiff Peanut Butter (50 characters)
• Helpful Banking from NatWest (30 characters)
• Hertz Rental Cars: We Try Harder (33 characters)
• Avis Rental Cars: We’re Number One (36 characters)

If you can’t describe the value of your product or service in under 140 characters, you may want to step back from your business to re-evaluate what you are delivering to your target market and why they will value it. Almost no product or service can survive a complex or nuanced marketing message.

For more insight into effective online marketing techniques, come to the MADE in 48 HOURS Bootcamp, being held in Sheffield on the 10th and 11th of September.