In early1992, President George H.W. Bush was riding high. He was sitting on an almost unprecedented 80% approval rating following the first Gulf War. Conventional wisdom pegged him as a shoe-in for a second term.

Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton faced an uphill battle. He was largely unknown at the start of 1992, facing a very popular incumbent. Worse for him, his opponent “owned” foreign policy. There was no way to successfully attack him on that front.

So what did the Governor’s campaign do? They got focused. They found (or created, depending on your politics) a chink in the President’s armor: the economy. Every word that came out of the campaign’s collective mouth had something to do with the state of economic affairs. And just so no one would even think about changing the subject, signs were posted in campaign headquarters across the country that read, “It’s the economy, stupid!”

By November, the formerly “unbeatable” President was out of a job. That is the power of a focused message.

Are your marketing communications that focused? Or do you have one message on the radio, another in print, and still another online? If so, your messages are actually competing with each other instead of your competition.

But a wonderful thing happens when all of your “voices” are singing from the same sheet of music: each strengthens the other and together, they dramatically increase your business. You’re spending the same amount of money, but getting vastly greater returns.

A focused message helped the Governor of a small state defeat a President. It can help your smaller business obliterate large competition. That’s smarter marketing.