Don’t Let Your Marketing put the “Mess” in “Message”

For way too long too many in the fishing industry have lagged behind the rest of the world, especially when it comes to marketing, advertising and general business savvy. I suppose that was acceptable, maybe even expected, 40 or 50 years ago when the business environment was simpler and the audience (the angler) was less savvy.

For decades, American marketers knew that if you wanted to sell a lot of something you put it on television or the radio. People saw it or heard about it on commercials played during their favorite shows. Maybe their favorite stars endorsed it. The next day, customers went to the store and bought it. Simple. Primitive even.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fAS0ButR2E

Of course, that didn’t last forever. People lost some of their naivety and started to realize that a big advertising budget did not equal a quality product or a necessary purchase. They became more discerning. Truth in advertising laws caught up with some of the shadier products. Consumer advocates, starting with men like Ralph Nader, began popping up and educating the public.

With the development of the internet, the focus went from a handful of celebrity endorsers to millions of nearly anonymous ones, end users sharing a tiny part of the spotlight and influencing their own sphere of consumers, family, friends and, in a few cases, larger groups.

For the most part, these influencers have had one thing in common through the years, their communication skills have been strong. And in the last 10 years it’s been proven thousands of times that you don’t need a multimillion dollar Madison Avenue marketing budget to influence your market. You just need some communication skills and business savvy.

Not everyone has these things. If you do, count yourself fortunate. You’re probably reaping the rewards of those skills now. But if you don’t have those qualities, you need to realize that you need help and you need to find it fast. You must be able to effectively tell your story or you’ll be lost in the tsunami of the tackle industry.

Marketers, business people and communicators in the fishing industry don’t need to be Shakespeare, Twain or Faulkner, but we need to be clear and clean with our message. We need to value how that message is expressed and conveyed. It needs almost as much care as the design of our next product or the size and scope of our next order. It needs to matter to each of us because it matters to those who see it, read it and make decisions based on it.

Why the rant today? Well, with every issue of FTR I deal with dozens and sometimes hundreds of manufacturers, all hoping to get a share of the editorial coverage in our magazine. Some (often the ones with outside marketing agencies or with staff dedicated to such things) are really good and really professional. Their news releases are crisp and clear. Their photos pop and look great on the page!

Then there are the others, the ones who don’t put enough emphasis on their message. They don’t have any good photographs or even any product descriptions. They haven’t put any thought into their need to communicate with media or retailer or end user.

They put the “mess” in message, and they pay for it.

Don’t let that be you.

If you don’t have the marketing or communications skills to elevate your business, I’ll bet you know someone who does. Get them involved. Recruit their help. Step up your messaging. It can make all the difference.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Let’s be that tide.