Emphasis on developing your WOW! factor should take priority in your marketing efforts and it will serve you well when you have found it.



I clearly recall what I would guess to be the first WOW factor I ever saw, long before term ?marketing? was fashionable. As a child, I remember looking up and watching a plane write a message in the sky for the very first time. I instantly thought WOW! how do they do that! And yes, I do remember the message, it was 'I love you Jenny'. Although sky writing has now become old hat, it had left a lasting imprint on my mind and I guess it would have been my first brush with how to get a message across.

You may be in a position to be able to afford paid advertising on radio or TV, in print or other high priced methods of promotion, even to sky writing, but for the majority of micro businesses this is a luxury beyond reach. If you are one of the latter, you will need to look for alternatives that have a direct, immediate and measurable outcome and... the WOW! factor

I am certain you have heard of the WOW! factor many times, particularly in renovation shows where a feature wall, piece of sculpture, artwork or furniture hits you the moment you walk into the room and your reaction is WOW! To add to this, the WOW! factor also extends to the designers, artists and tradesmen who worked on the renovations which allowed them to show off their skills. WOW! They must have been good or they would not have been able to pull the entire thing together in such a short time, or so we are led to believe.

Try to imagine if the same programs merely showed how to paint a wall, hang a curtain or dig a hole for a tree. Would the reaction be the same, would they still be so popular or would the show be on TV at all? If this format works so successfully for home, renovation and garden shows, shouldn't or couldn't it also work for your business? The WOW factor of your business Obviously, we cannot go through each and every business in this article but here are a few things to consider when you are looking for the WOW factor in your advertising and promotions.

The question you should be asking is not WHY but HOW to create that WOW! in your business

How can you show what you are offering, and the difference it could make to your customer's life? Is it easier, quicker, bigger, better or brighter, is there more leisure time?

Take the example of promoting the use of polished flooring as an alternative floor covering. Tick the one that appeals to you most, 1. A person vacuuming a carpet area that appears larger than a football oval, 2. A mountain-like pile of dirt vacuumed up from the carpet, 3. An enlarged close-up of dust mites 4. Someone with his or her feet up reading a good book, sipping a glass of wine, with the vacuum cleaner

slowly fading into the sunset, obsolete. I know which one I would prefer. Then there is the person, hot and bothered covered in perspiration, mowing the lawn on a beautiful Sunday morning. Or does your preference lean towards the guy lying in a hammock, fanned by a gentle summer breeze, with a cold can of beer in his hand, and the lawnmower standing idle. No! he didn't concrete the entire back yard and paint it green, he secured the services of his local lawn mowing and gardening specialist.

?The sale of sunglasses is assured, when associated with the sun, surf and fun and the great outdoors.

?Suitcases go together with travel and faraway places.

?Cookbooks promote dinner parties, with good food shared with good wine, and good friends. Is there money to be saved, if so, what pleasures can be bought with the money?

A bankbook showing a large credit balance, does nothing to stimulate saving but show me the big, bright, red car of my dreams and I will penny pinch like there is no tomorrow, particularly if it is bigger, brighter and better than that of my neighbors, friends or relatives A picture is worth a thousand words. Paint a picture. Use pictures, big pictures, bright pictures and pictures that say what your product or service is all about. Glossy magazines are full of pictures showing makeovers to millionaires and everything in between, all of that just to sell their magazines. What attracts you to the magazine... the cover right!. Would you buy a magazine that does not have one picture on its cover? I don't think so.

Many a successful dieter has set goals to lose weight with a picture of the dream dress or jeans that they want to fit into, on their refridgerator, I guess, by now you are beginning to get the picture.

Marketing the WOW! factor is not an easy task for most businesses and research needs to be carried out to find out what excites and entices people to buy from you, above all others. This can be done with the help of surveys, friends, family and past customers, a simple question you could ask is 'what brought you here?'

If the answer is your great advertising (regardless of method), then you know you are well on the way to finding your WOW! factor

Make a point to put aside time this week to search for your WOW! factor in your advertising and your business, be it your business card, brochures or major advertising, if you can't say WOW!, no-one else will either.