I heard an old song the other day that I had not heard in years. It is one of the greatest hits of the rock group Three Dog Night. The song is called One is the Loneliest Number. The song bemoans the forlorn lifestyle of being single with its opening line: "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do.”

Why one is not a lonely number in marketing

Oddly enough, these lyrics started playing in my head when I was with a client recently. (You are getting some insight into the way my brain works!) We were in a marketing strategy meeting where we were discussing the most marketable points about the client’s company. He was coming up with a laundry list of features, advantages, and benefits that he saw as being expedient to get into his marketing message – a game changer for his customers, so he thought. This is very typical when we are trying to put our best marketing foot forward, isn’t it? We start to think that the more features we list in our marketing message, the better it will be. The only problem is, it isn’t very effective. Why? Because when you throw too many items at another human being, they cannot remember any of them. The laundry list is not memorable. What is memorable? One thought.

One!

This is what scares a lot of leaders of industry who have built their business with a lot of pieces that make it great. In their thinking, it is the sum of all the parts which makes their business great and sets it apart from the competition. When I tell them I want to describe all those great things to their target audience in one thought made up of very few words, they begin to squirm. And although they can tell me all about the little details of their business, their target market doesn’t care! Ouch! Customers tend to want a short list of features. In general, what they want from you probably falls into these categories:

· They want what you are selling to work (quality products/services)

· They want it on time

· They want it at a good price

· They want to have a good interaction with your employee(s) who answers their questions and takes care of their wants (customer service)

What is the one thing you could say or do that would convince someone to do business with you? That needs to be your marketing message. Stick to the point that will bring customers to you.

Doing the One

But is just deciding on one marketing point all it takes to get customers to take notice of your products or services? No, you have to back up your single-focused marketing claims. For years, retail giant Target has used the marketing slogan "Expect More, Pay Less.” They are a discount retailer, so the Pay Less portion of the slogan worked, but what about the Expect More? Target was just a very bland big box store with trendy advertising. This was a complaint of consumers for years. Target decided it needed to live up to the expectations of its customer base and expanded its product offerings about a year ago. Along with that move, they remodeled stores so they did not have what seemed like miles of beige shelving units with nothing to entice the consumer down a different aisle. The new Target stores have been designed to be easier to navigate and have been updated with stylish endcaps to be more eye appealing. They also shut down under-selling products (why sell what no one wants to buy?) To be effective in marketing, you have to live out your claims. If not, your marketing will be used against you.

When you are thinking of your marketing message, one is a great number. Define your business brand in a way that is to the point and memorable, addresses what the customer wants from you, and is something you are prepared to back up with your actions.

5 Reasons Target Stores Look Better Than A Year Ago, by Warren Shoulberg,  Forbes, March 15, 2018