Asking “So What?” to uncover great marketing messagesFebruary 22nd, 2008

It’s always interesting to see how people will respond to certain unexpected things.  The “So what” exercise always seems to get people a bit defensive, but it also does some great marketing work.   Here’s the idea…

Next time you’re in a marketing meeting (or really any business meeting) and there’s a statement about the marketing message, simply ask “So What?” Before you do this today, a few warnings:

• Don’t do this to your spouse or significant other- it will backfire on you… every time.
•  I always try to warn companies/people I’m consulting with- telling them that if I ask some tough questions, I’m not trying to be flippant, but rather trying to “dig deeper.”
• This exercise needs to be taken slowly and in small doses- it can really piss people off quickly. Be aware of people’s reactions.
• Know when to quit- before someone starts to scream or walks out.

An example… You’re in a marketing meeting, discussing a new service your company is starting to offer, and trying to uncover the real benefits.  The comment is made… “Offering this service allows our clients to handle all of their (xyz process) with us.” Now is the time to ask “So What?”

Without this question, you may end up with some marketing copy that says something like “Our new xyz services enable you to perform all of your abc processes with one streamlined global partner.”  Pretty boring, unfulfilling and not valuable from an audience perspective, right?

Asking “So What?” does several things:

• It challenges and makes people dig deeper and think harder
• It uncovers benefits rather than discussing features
• It develops more sub-messages and details that mean something to the audience

After you ask “So What”- most likely the person will stop for a second, and then come back with a new statement.  At this point you can do one of two things…

1. Ask “So What?” again.  Be careful though- this is where people start to freak out.
2. Smile- because the revised statement got the answer/message/copy you were hoping for. Build off of that.

So, taking our example a bit further…

Marketer 1: “Our new service enables a client to perform all of their xyz processes in one place.”

Mid-marketer: “So What?”

Marketer 1:  “So… it means they can have centralized access to all of the data.”

Mid-marketer: “So What?”

Marketer 1: “So… they don’t have to go into multiple accounts and then aggregate that data into a spreadsheet.”

Mid-marketer: “So What?” (check to see if they are smiling or turning red at this point)

Marketer 1: “So… they save a ton of time, it’s much less confusing and they have more accurate data.”

mid-marketer: “YES!”

This example ends with a high-five, the happy-chicken dance or another one of your signature moves… Not to mention a very focused, benefit-centered message.

Posted by Dan Swartz

Posted in: Marketing Strategy

Tags: benefits, content, marketing message, So What

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