Your people.
Your offer.
And how your offer matches what those people need.
That’s it, really. That’s marketing in a nutshell.
When I go through a series of “Foundations” sessions with a new client, this is ultimately what we’re digging into. We have four in-depth sessions, with a lot of questions. (My favourite is when they say “Oh…that’s a really good question!” and sit and think about it for a minute.)
The deliverables are things like a marketing plan, a timeline, a list of actions, an audience summary, identification of the assets needed and gaps in current marketing.
But ultimately these helpful documents are a summary of three things: who exactly you’re talking to, what they really need, and what you do to help meet that need.
It’s what all the life coaches say about finding the kind of work you enjoy: the intersection of what you love doing, what people need, and what they’ll pay for.
So if you’re stuck anywhere in marketing, go back to these three basics:
Your people: Who exactly are these people? The more specific, the better. People who…
- Are in this industry
- Are in this situation
- Are this age, with these things
- Live in this place
- Feel this way
- Have this kind of business
- Are motivated by these kinds of things
- Don’t care about these other kinds of things
What they need: What’s really troubling them? They might come to you because you’re an accountant, or a yoga teacher, or a website designer, but ultimately there’s something they are missing. They paid too much in taxes. Their shoulder hurts. Their current website is old.
Then you dig into the feelings. It’s not just that they paid too much in taxes: it’s that they couldn’t take their kids to Florida as promised, and that’s disappointing, and sad. They’re maybe a little angry about that. Their shoulder hurts, and it’s preventing them going hiking or even out walking with the dogs. When they meet a new prospect they’re excited about, they feel embarrassed to share their existing website because it doesn’t reflect them.
So yes, they are looking for an accountant: but ultimately they want to fulfil a promise to their kids.
They are intrigued by the concept of doing yoga: but ultimately they want less pain.
They are looking for a website designer: but ultimately they want to be proud of how their company is shown to the world.
What is the need, the want, deep at the heart of why they’re coming to you?
Your offer: And now we get to how you connect those, how you help deliver on that need. This is far more than a boring list of services on your (old, tired) website: it’s the connection between those people and what they need, and your people and what you deliver.
After all, your offer isn’t “management accounts”, or “a website”. It’s a whole lot deeper than that.
Think about what they really want to know:
- What’s the process? What happens first, what happens next?
- What do they actually get (which they can see or hold)?
- How is pricing calculated? What factors is it based on? Does it vary from person to person or business to business? Might there be more costs than the initial ones?
- What’s the expected impact?
- Who else have you helped? How? How did they feel at first, and how do they feel now? What numbers or outcomes did they have?
- Who will the client be working with? What experience do these people have?
- What systems do you use? Apps, software, processes?
- What’s important to you and your team as you do the work (usually described as values)? What matters, what do you stand for? What do you hate, or what do you never stand for? What will and won’t you do?
- How and when do you communicate?
- What happens if things go wrong?
If your “offer” answers all these things, you’re far more likely to make a real connection with the kind of person you want to work with. And they’re more likely to feel reassured, confident, and excited about working with you.
Or they’ll choose not to work with you, but that’s okay too: as long as their decision has been based on reviewing all this information and realising they aren’t the person. Or they don’t have that particular need. Or they don’t like or want the approach you take. Nothing wrong with that.
But when you’re clear about these three things – ideally, when you can summarise those into a short sentence or statement, and back it up with that detail – you’ll find you are far more appealing to the right kind of clients.
And they’ll make their decision faster.
