Your Message Should Be Boring

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Why in the world would I want a box of business cards with a different design on each one?

In radio ads, I’ve heard a company that sells business cards promoting that very feature: “Business cards with a different design on each one.”

I’m sure they use some very nifty software to make this happen.  But why?

  • Do people expect me to hand over more than one card when I introduce myself? 
  • Are they comparing the card that I gave to them with the ones I gave to others in the room?
  • Are people collecting my business cards to have a complete set? 
  • Do they swap them on some secondary market?

Probably not. 

If they’re like me, they enter the info into their contacts app, put the business card in the stack of other cards bound by an elastic band, and stick them in a desk drawer.

So why tout “a different design on every card?” Here’s the only explanation I can come up. 

The company thinks that a person gets bored looking at the same, same, same business card every time they hand it out.

Boredom can be a good thing

Maybe people do get bored. 

But here’s some news:  They should be getting bored.  They should be getting tired of showing the same thing every… single… time.

When it comes to your business card, boring is OK.  In fact, whenever you’re talking to someone about what your business does, boring yourself is actually a good thing.

You should be saying the same thing over and over and over.

Note that I said “boring yourself,” not “boring the other person.”  Just because you’ve delivered the same message a thousand times doesn’t mean you can’t muster some passion.  This is your business after all.

Stick with the core messages

Once you’ve figured out the core value proposition and messages – who should be buying your solution, what problem does it solve, and why is it better than alternatives – you should tell that same story… every time, everywhere.

Why? 

Because the folks who you want to hear your message are hearing lots of other messages along with yours.  They’re positively bombarded with messages.

Repeating your message consistently is the only way that your value proposition can possible get through.  It’s the only way people will remember it.

They should see it on your website, your blog posts, your presentations, your demos, your ad campaigns, and yes, even your business cards.

Staying on script improves impact, saves time & money

Believe me, I’ve been doing marketing for a long time and I understand the urge to step out, go off script, get a little crazy. 

And by the way, it’s perfectly OK to be creative.  There are ways to present the same fundamental message in different ways.

But if you wander from the basic message, you’re losing impact and squandering resources. 

If every time you want to prepare a video, a press announcement, a white paper, or any other kind of marketing material, you need to figure out the basics – who’s the audience, what’s the problem, how do we solve it, why should you buy from us – you’re going to waste a lot of time and money.

That’s bad for all companies and especially bad for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies.  They have no time and no money to waste.  (See “SaaS customer acquisition:  Feed it or starve it?”)

SaaS companies are much better off developing a compelling value proposition and message… and sticking to it.

Sure, the same message every time can get boring to you.    But you are not the person you’re talking to.