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Wilfred was born in 1848 in Paris, France.  His Italian parents moved back to Italy when he was 10 years old.

He became somewhat of a rebel by claiming that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by a mere 20% of the population.

He then discovered that 20% of his pea pods contained 80% of the peas.

Out of these simple observations the Pareto Principle was born.  (a.k.a. – the 80-20 Rule)

If you closely analyze your marketing, you’ll likely discover that a mere 20% of your advertising generates a full 80% of your new customers.

Think back over the advertising and marketing that you’ve done. What has generated the most results? What has generated the highest ROI?  Are you still doing these things?  If not, why?

Now for a challenge.  Grab one of your current ads (radio, television, social media, it doesn’t matter).  Spend a few minutes reviewing the piece.

If you had to cut the amount of material (messaging) appearing in the piece by 80%, what would you cut out? If you have a 30-second television or radio spot, that means you’ve got to cut it down to only 6 seconds.  This forces you to get to the core of the message.

Ideally what you should be left with will be your USP (unique selling proposition). This is the thing that makes you different from all your competitors.

Now that you’re armed with your USP, it’s time to restructure your entire message around it. So, instead of having your USP hidden in your ad, bring it front and center.  Make it the thing that people remember.  Make the rest of the ad reinforce your USP.

As a marketer, continually ask yourself, “What is the 20% that matters?” It’s this 20% that will yield 80% of your results. Give it a try, I’d love to hear what happens.