Communication is critical to marketing your business. Shoppers won’t know what you offer or why they should buy from you unless you clearly communicate to them. We’re continuing through the three step marketing plan with the second step: Clarify Your Message.
- Define Your Market
- Clarify Your Message
- Choose Your Methods
If you caught up with us a little late you can check out the introductory post here.
2. Clarify Your Message
Imagine you’re in the market for a house, and your new realtor calls you up and says she has a property for you to buy. Of course you start asking questions. How many bedrooms and bathrooms? How many square feet? Where is it located? When can we see it? But, your realtor doesn’t answer any questions, and only responds by saying, “I’m a great realtor, and I’ve been doing this for years. You should buy it.” You would be looking for a new realtor.
Of course that scenario is a little extreme, but that’s the way many businesses try to market themselves: “We are a great company and have been in business many years. You should buy from us.” While there is a place for communicating the awesomeness of your business, the problem with relying on this approach is that it doesn’t really communicate to shoppers what they will get out of it. Shoppers do care about the authority your business carries. But they care more about how your product or service can change their lives.
Focus on solutions
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think much about disinfectant spray. Until someone in my family gets sick. And then we’re spraying that stuff like our lives depended on it. So, if I see an ad from a local store for disinfectant spray, most of the time I completely ignore it, and you probably do, too. And that teaches us a lot about marketing.
While many businesses market physical solutions, most purchases are made because of an emotional connection. People buy because they really want or need something. I buy disinfectant spray because I really don’t want the rest of my family to get sick. So, the way to sell me disinfectant spray is by selling the solution, stopping the spread of germs, instead of the product.
You have probably seen this at work in TV commercials with animated “germs” being destroyed by a motherly figure armed only with a rag and some cleaning spray. Those ads aren’t selling the bottle of spray. They are selling the destruction of germs. They are selling relief and security.
So, when it comes to communicating to your potential customers it is important that you market solutions. Tell them what will happen if they buy from you. Spend time getting to know their fears, problems, and pains so you not only know how to solve those problems, but how to communicate the solutions you offer.
If you own a clothing store, don’t market clothes. Market image and self-confidence.
If you sell tools, don’t market tools. Market the power to create awesome projects.
Focus on internal solutions and emotional connections rather than physical solutions.
Give shoppers a place in a story
The idea of story in marketing is not a new one. It has been popularized by big names in marketing, like Seth Godin and Donald Miller, but the concept is really as old as marketing itself. And it just comes down to helping a shopper visualize the outcome of buying your product or service.
Of course, we help shoppers visualize outcomes by focusing on solutions, as we’ve already seen. But that’s just the end of the story. Before the solution comes a problem.
Think about your favorite movies, books, or TV shows. Most have a common storyline: a hero encounters a problem that’s builds in intensity until a solution is found that solves the problem and brings resolution. And this is what people go through when they shop, albeit on a smaller scale. A family member gets sick and I need to stop the germs from spreading (problem). I get a bottle of disinfectant spray to kill the germs (solution). The germs don’t spread, and no one else gets sick (resolution).
When we’re marketing we can cater to this human instinct to respond to and live in stories. We can communicate empathy and understanding of shopper’s problems. We can offer an effective solution to those problems. And we can help them visualize how life will be better because of our solution. Then shoppers won’t just see a can of disinfectant spray in our ad. They will see a weapon that they can wield to keep their families safe. Security is a much more appealing thing to buy than a can.
Use clear language
When you are offering solutions in marketing it can be tempting to use flashy but ambiguous language. Words like “success,” “growth,” and “logistics” get thrown around in a lot of ads and website headlines. But it’s important to communicate more clearly to relieve shoppers’ questions as quickly as possible. What does success look like for your clients? What kind of growth are you offering? Does anyone really know what “logistics” means?
Once you have defined your market you can pinpoint the pains and problems they face. Knowing their pains and problems then gives you the language for your solutions. Be brief but specific and clear about what you provide for your clients. Don’t just offer success, but explain what kind of success you offer. Don’t just promise relief, but clearly communicate what kind of relief. The less you can leave to the shopper’s imagination when it comes to the solution, the better.
So, when it comes to marketing, clarity is key. Make sure shoppers know what you offer, and what it can do for them. Make emotional connections. Bring them into a story, a journey from pains and problems to relief and solutions. And make sure you make it about them, and not about you or your business.
Next we’ll review great online marketing methods for your business.
