The essential purpose of a small business or company is
that your product or service provides some kind of solution
to some kind of need or problem. In other words, people's
problems are your opportunities.
That's pretty oversimplified but holds true. If you don't
know what's bugging your prospects and keeping them up at
night, then you won't know what solution your services and
products need to offer them.
From a marketing point of view, you have to be very clear
about what your customer's problems are in order to "talk"
to them. When you think of what you are selling as a
solution to your prospects' problems or a way to improve
their lives, you are speaking their language. And when you
speak their language, they are much more likely to listen,
because you are tapping into the conversation that is
already going on inside their head!
People want to know you understand them, that you have
compassion for their concerns and want to help with your
services and products.
Your goal is to create a clear, concise and strong
marketing message that resonates with your prospects' wants
and needs. Your marketing message needs to clearly show
the connection between your services and your prospective
clients' needs.
Your target or niche market shares commonalities in the
frustrations and issues they face. As a good marketer and
business owner, you need to identify these and be able to
talk about them in your marketing communications.
Your prospects are walking around with needs and problems
and they are looking for solutions. They are not
necessarily walking around looking for the product or
service you sell. So, when you can position your product or
service as a solution to their problem, you immediately get
their attention!
To be more accurate, your prospects and clients experience
various symptoms or emotions caused by their problems. For
example, people come to professional organizers because
they feel many of the following symptoms: stress, anxiety,
feeling out of control, unhappy, inefficient, feeling bad
about self, ineffectual and so on. They may have different
problems, i.e. messy office, no workable filing system,
cluttered garage, but they all pretty much feel the same
and experience the same symptoms.
By tapping into people's underlying issues and the emotions
that are created from this problem or need, you can ensure
that your marketing materials talk directly to these
symptoms and problems.
So how do you figure out what your prospects' and clients'
problems are?
* think about when you have been in the same situation and
what your main issues and feelings were
* ask current and potential customers what the key issues
facing them are
* stay current with any studies, literature and news about
your target group and things that are "hot buttons" for them
* periodically check out your competitor's websites and see
how are they talking to their customers, what kind of
language they are using
* do research on your target market (via websites,
magazines, trade shows, online forums) to see what they're
talking about amongst themselves You need to stay educated
and informed of your prospect's problems; otherwise you
won't be able to communicate that you understand their
problems. And if you can't do this, then your potential
clients will not respond; and as a result they will not buy
your products or services.
The principle is very simple: if you can clearly articulate
a problem your client has, and you can demonstrate credibly
that you can provide a solution to that problem, they will
listen to you.
If your marketing message can clearly and compellingly
"connect the dots" between the problems your prospects and
customers have and the solutions your services and products
provide, then you'll have more qualified buyers and more
success marketing your small business!
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Jody Gabourie, The Small Business Marketing Coach, delivers
simple, innovative and powerful marketing strategies to
help business owners find and keep their most profitable
clients. To learn more about how she can help you take your
business to the next level, and to sign up for her FREE
special report, ezine and articles, visit her site at
http://www.JodyGabourieMarketingCoach.com
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