In 12 seconds: There is an incredibly useful, easy-to-make, and often requested marketing and sales tool manufacturers need to have – the marketing one-pager. A marketing one-pager is a corporate marketing tool that provides a high-level overview of a company’s six essential components, including:
- What the company does
- Who the company does it for
- Problems the company solves
- The company’s brand (value propositions and brand promise)
- How the company is different than its competition
- Compelling calls to action
and sales Tom, the VP of sales for a stamping, welding and fabrication company met Greg, the president of a company that manufactures agricultural equipment at an industry trade show after-hours event.
After engaging in pleasantries and casual conversation about each other’s businesses, Greg asked Tom if he could email him a one-page overview of his company that he could share with his team. Greg wasn’t particularly fond of the relationship with his current supplier and was open to exploring one with Tom based on the details of their discussion.
Although Tom didn’t know whether his company had what Greg was asking for, he enthusiastically replied with a firm “absolutely” to Greg’s request with fingers crossed. After all, Tom thought that a one-page anything wouldn’t be too difficult to produce and provide.
The following morning, Tom learned that his company’s marketing department didn’t have a marketing one-pager and it would take a week or longer to put one together. Someone needed to write it, an artist would need to design it, Tom would need to review it and provide edits, and then he would need to wait for the marketing team to complete it.
Knowing that timing is everything in sales, especially when a prospect expresses interest by asking for specific information, Tom emailed Greg the next day to let him know his company didn’t have a one-page overview document and fell back on what most companies typically do: He provided a link to his company’s About Us page.
Unfortunately for Tom, his company’s About Us page was weak on content, didn’t provide much aside from the company’s history, and lacked the relevant information Greg needed to make a decision to move forward. Tom assumed Greg would take the time to peruse his website based on his high level of interest.
Tom was wrong. Greg thought it was a lazy excuse to not get him what he requested.
After repeated attempts to reignite conversations over the course of several weeks, Tom finally got through to Greg who curtly replied that he was going in another direction.
In retrospect, it would have been better for Tom to simply create his own one-pager (even in Word) for Greg. Granted, it would not have been as visually appealing as if his marketing department had produced it, but it would have certainly fulfilled its specific purpose – serving as a one-page overview Greg asked for that he could share with his team, and Greg would’ve appreciated that Tom took the time to create one on his own even though his company didn’t have one handy.
What exactly is a one-pager?
A one-pager is a corporate marketing and sales tool that provides a high-level overview of a company’s six essential components, including:
- What the company does
- Who the company does it for
- Problems the company solves
- The company’s brand (value propositions and brand promise)
- How the company is different than its competition
- Compelling calls to action
(Note: A company can also have unique one-pagers for its products and services, but for the purpose of this article, we are focusing on company overview one-pagers as it is the most common and frequently requested in the pre-purchase phase of the sales cycle.)
Why your company needs a one-pager
The bottom line is that you need a way to make it as easy as possible for people to understand who you are, what you do, the problems you solve, and how you are different and better than your competition.
The keyword here is “easy.”
Tom’s perceived solution of sending a link to his company’s website backfired because it was the opposite of what Greg was looking for – easy. Navigating through websites is time consuming and difficult.
As necessary and as valuable as websites are, there are many people, like Greg who only want and need a 30,000-foot overview of a company to make sure it can help solve a specific issue or problem. If Greg wanted to wade through Tom’s website, he wouldn’t have asked for a one-page overview.
How to create a strong one-pager for your company
You’ll be using keywords and key phrases throughout your document that appeal to your buyers. (To identify the best keywords for your company, consider a subscription to semrush.com.) It’s important to keep in mind that people will initially scan your one-pager much like they scan webpages, brochures, and articles because they are looking for words and phrases that are relevant and important to them.
For example, a particular manufacturer may scan for keywords like “efficiency,” “uptime,” “guarantee,” “petrochemical” and “durability.” They may also scan for key phrases such as “cost of ownership,” “24-hour” and “original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).” You get the point.
Obviously, your one-pager will be loaded with links that take people to specific pages of your website, one or more of which may be a landing page.
Once the reader sees content on your one-pager that piques their interest, they will most likely read it in greater detail, and will very likely click on a link that takes them to a specific page of your website where the buyer’s journey (hopefully) continues.
Would you agree that a one-pager has the potential of being one of your most powerful and influential marketing tools?
Consider the many different ways to quickly and easily promote your brand through a one-pager:
- Provide a link in your email signature for download – This would be a welcome sight, as most people don’t provide this in this format. Don’t forget to lead people to it and tell them to download.
- Use it as a LinkedIn post – It’s yet another way to promote your brand and call out your differentiators.
- Upload as a LinkedIn feature document – Place alongside newsletters, presentations, eBooks, white papers, etc.
- Use as a sales call follow-up tool – As I’ve referenced several times, it can be a much better and more efficient option than sending your prospect to a website, and they’ll appreciate it.
- Offer a link for download on your website’s homepage – Ideal for those people who want an easier and faster way to get to know you.
Use as a newsletter attachment - Provide as a referral tool for distribution – Imagine you’re meeting with someone over breakfast and they say, I know someone who may be interested in what you do. Instead of making them do the work by struggling through an (email) introduction, make it easy by sending them your one-pager that they can pass on.
- Use in place of a brochure – Pretty much the same thing, but easier to edit and print.
- Many more
You may be thinking that you couldn’t possibly fit everything you do onto one page.
Question for you: How did you ever fit everything you do onto your website?
You didn’t, because you can’t.
You’re overthinking it.
A one-pager’s “less” is so much “more.” More attention, more direct, more relevant, more sharable, more effective, more user-friendly and more appreciated, especially in a world where the average attention span is less than eight seconds.
Convinced? Intrigued? Thinking about it?
Then contact us by completing the form below. We’ll get you up and running with your own one-pager that you can start using immediately.