The Marketing Highlighter Test: Does Your Content Make The Grade?

by Keith Reynold Jennings

We still live in a business culture that believes the organization is the center of the universe. Within this is the belief that everyone from employees and suppliers to investors and customers exist to serve the organization.

It’s not true, of course. Buyers are the center of the business universe. But there is a strong inward pull in every business that impacts its ability to market and sell.

If you are seeking a lift in your marketing and sales effectiveness, one of the first things to pay attention to is this org-centric gravitational pull.

Whether you’re a leader, marketer or creative, the highlighter test will help you “see” the effects of this pull and course-correct your sales and marketing content in ways that will connect with those you seek to serve.

The Marketing Highlighter Test

1. Grab two different colored highlighters
2. Print off the copy on your home page, about page, most recent email campaign and bios on your social media channels
3. Read each piece of content out loud
4. Anytime you or your organization, its product/service, etc. is mentioned, highlight that with one color
5. Anytime your reader/prospect is mentioned, highlight that with the other color

Which color is dominate?

Each time I’ve done this for organizations, there’s typically a 3:1 organization-to-reader ratio. Your job is to flip this ratio to where the dominant copy is for and about the prospect.

Example #1: Applying the Marketing Highlighter Test

Here’s how just about every sales email I get reads:

My name is John Doe and I work with (company name I’ve never heard of).  I’m reaching out because I help companies automate and manage their sales commissions and bonus calculations.

We’ve helped companies eliminate spreadsheets and manual calculations, and I’m curious about your process and whether there’s room for improvement?  Wasted time, data errors and reporting issues are frustrations I hear most often as reasons why people seek to automate. 

How does your calendar look at 10:30AM on (date) for a brief 5 minute phone conversation to discuss your process and whether there’s room for improvement?  If this time does not work, please suggest a time/date that is more convenient for you.

Okay, let’s apply the highlighter test:

My name is John Doe and I work with (company name I’ve never heard of).  I’m reaching out because I help companies automate and manage their sales commissions and bonus calculations.

We’ve helped companies eliminate spreadsheets and manual calculations, and I’m curious about your process and whether there’s room for improvement?  Wasted time, data errors and reporting issues are frustrations I hear most often as reasons why people seek to automate.

How does your calendar look at 10:30AM on (date) for a brief 5 minute phone conversation to discuss your process and whether there’s room for improvement?  If this time does not work, please suggest a time/date that is more convenient for you.

First of all, this sales pitch sucks. Notice how the “about us,” org-centric content is up top in the copy? And the “for you” content is buried?

Even though I counted the “you” and “your,” they’re not really for me, they’re to me. (Fun Fact: This is a real email I copied and pasted from my inbox.)

Example #2A (The Org-Centric Approach)

Here’s another email from my inbox. Let’s apply the highlighter test:

Hi Keith,

I’m reaching out to see if you’re open to a quick intro call.

(Company name’s) platform allows you to quickly find user-generated content about your brand across all of the social networks, and then manage and publish that content across your web & mobile properties.

We’ve helped brands like Coca-Cola, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Sony, Motorola, and Bank of America drive engagement, increase time-on-site, and influence purchase intent.

Is there a day/time that works well for you? The call wouldn’t take more than 30 minutes.

On the surface, this seems to pass the highlighter test, because there’s more blue than orange. But the content is still predominantly about the sender’s company, not me. It’s boilerplate copy for a spam campaign, right?

Example #2B (The Customer-Centric Approach)

If I were with the company above, here’s how I might re-work the email and what the highlighter test would reveal:

Hi Keith,

How are you finding and using user generated content at Jackson Healthcare?

If you had a tool that helped you find content that was directly related to your brand across all relevant social networks, how might that help you? And what if you could also manage and publish that content across Jackson’s digital properties?

We’ve helped big name brands drive engagement, time on site and purchase intent. But I would prefer to share real stories from organizations most like yours.

Are you open to a quick intro call? I promise to keep it to no more than 15 minutes.

Now that’s still a pretty pathetic pitch! But can you sense the difference? My focus on the person I’m seeking to serve dominates the copy.

I’m curious, which one — the org-centric approach (Example #2A) or the customer-centric approach (Example #2B) — reads better to you? (Be kind!)

Achieving Lift Through An Others-First Mindset

We work with people who still think marketing is supposed to be organization-centric. Yet they consistently buy from organizations who put them first.

The purpose of business is to serve others. And those we serve should be at the center of our business universe.

Instead of starting with a me-first approach to your marketing, start by putting others first. I can almost guarantee you’ll see an immediate lift in engagement and, ultimately, purchases.

The Marketing Highlighter Test is a great way to help you get started. And it’s a great way you can help others achieve lift with their marketing and sales efforts. I hope you’ll use this and pass this along to others.