The need for certainty seems to sum up the marketplace these days.  Our trust has plummeted, as our seemingly solid dependable institutions have crumbled.  From our banks, to our industries, to our schools, and our government -- all have fallen short of our expectations. What we relied upon is not reliable.

All that change is unnerving.  So, it’s no wonder we crave certainty.  

Certainty in marketing messages, though, is suspect.  Since every marketing message is a promise, and we are generally leery of all promises today, marketing needs to be anchored in the fundamentals.    

Here are five fundamental ways you can ensure that your marketing message, your promise, conveys a reliable certainty:     

1. Talk your walk.  

 (No, not ‘walk your talk’).  In successful marketing, the walk comes first.   Before you begin talking, check out the walk you are walking.  What is the truth about what what you do; your core essence?  Is that inspiring to you?  If not, how can you get back to the inspiration you had when you first started? This is your brand.   It is fundamental.

2. Talk your value.  

You need to know your customer very well. What are your customers’ concerns?  What are their challenges?  Why is your product or service valuable to them?  How does it help them?  Articulate your value.

3. Talk together as one.  

Make sure your team is aligned before you begin.  Is the brand, the marketing message, the plan just a good idea someone dreamed up, or is your entire team or organization on board?   Better yet, did the entire team participate in creating the plan?  You’ll have a better chance of success if the organization is aligned and their is a collective ownership of the brand and the goal.

4. Listen and watch as you talk.    

Before you even begin to implement your marketing, have a way to listen, watch and measure responses at each step to a sale.  Most of us just measure the ultimate goal: the sale.  But there are crucial steps such as introduction, seeking more information, trial, etc that lead to the ultimate goal of a final sale.   Identify those steps,.  Figure out how to measure them  and use this information to evaluate your plan.  Alter the plan if needed. 

5. Listen for your talk coming back to you.  

You know your customer has heard your message, when they say it back to you.    In Steve Martin’s memoir,  he cites that he knew he had his talk right when he heard people on the street say, “well excuuuuse me!” a few days after he used it in a gig in a San Francisco club.   Today, we can add social media tactics like Facebook, Twitter, and the like --  all have a boomerang power to hear your message returning to you.

Delivering a message of certainty to your audience and inspiring them to act is critical to success today.  The problem with certainty is that it is a scarce commodity.  Nothing is certain now, if it ever was.  

Yet, you can at least ensure the marketing promise you make is anchored in the truth of your core essence and your value.  You can build in a way to listen and measure responses.  Making a promise from these fundamental marketing guidelines will ensure your success.