In my last post I introduced the notion of changing your orientation when developing your messaging strategy. Spend less time telling them about you and more time telling them about them.
So now you need to ask yourself – who are they?
Well I have some good news…really good news.
You can choose.
Yes, you can choose your customers. And, I would argue that this is one of the most enlightening concepts in marketing.
So, who should you chose?
Well, if you’ve had any success to date I bet it is those customers that you are particularly good at acquiring now (but not enough of them), that love your work and that you love working for, and that are profitable and repeat customers.
That’s a good start. Heck, having an entire business of only those customers you love, that love you, that you do amazing work for and that are repeat and profitable customers is a pretty nice place.
So, let me get back to my point.
Now that you have chosen WHO your customers are, you can create a messaging strategy around who they are. I call this “Is this you?” marketing. Yah, pretty slick.
And, as super slick as that name is, it is super powerful because suddenly your messages start filtering OUT the customers you don’t want and becoming a SUPER filter for those that you do want and who you will most likely satisfy with your service. And that also means a step change in the performance of all your marketing programs.
That’s a nice place.
Your Messaging – Get To It!
So, now that you know the secret that you can actually choose your customers you can start orienting your messaging around them. What businesses are they in? What is unique about them? What specific challenges to they have that someone like you can help them solve? What kinds of things do they really value (price, service, integrity, local boy, creativity, intelligence, friendliness…)?
When they hit your web page – make’em go “Yeah Baby! That’s me”. Then you got’em interested. You may not be done yet but I can tell you if you can get there..you are 90 percent of the way home.
Tags: acquisition, branding, communication, conversion, marketing, Messaging, positioning
Mitch,
I agree that messaging is a very difficult exercise for many businesses. I submit it’s much harder when you’re doing it for your own business because you are so close to it. That’s why it’s helpful to engage outside help. Finding the outside help that understands your business and your customer is the tricky part, but certainly doable.
I am an inbound marketing agency looking for clients who recognize they need outside expertise to help them get found on the web and convert new sale opportunities.
I am a first time author looking for my target reader to try my new book Marketing 2.0 and write a review on Amazon.
Thanks for the guideline on this important exercise.
Bernie Borges
@berniebay