Clearly Stating the Benefit to the Customer.
You are really good at your job. You know everything about your company, your products and your offerings. And that is often where people go wrong.
We frequently see marketing efforts that are created from the perspective that the customer knows everything that you do. Obviously, they do not. Instead of developing content and promotions based on what you know, try to remove yourself from the equation and take the viewpoint of a customer. With the “What’s in it for me?” approach (or “Why should I care?”), you should be looking at everything as a customer who knows nothing about you and ask yourself why would a customer benefit from the product or service I am offering?
The answer to that question can go in many different directions depending on your business. There can even be multiple reason why someone would benefit. If that is the case, I’d recommend one of two things:
- An A/B test to see which reason gets the best conversion.
- A quick bullet list (like this one) that points out the key reasons.
One perfect example of how marketing without the “What’s in it for me?” approach can go wrong is from a business that was recently celebrating their 100th anniversary. Now that is certainly a tremendous accomplishment and should be promoted. But, ask yourself, would you buy something from a company just because it was their 100th anniversary? Neither would I. Instead, they should have used that accomplishment as an eye catcher that then leads into an offer, or promotes a new product or service. Being around for 100 years means they are a very reliable and trustworthy company. I’d be more comfortable doing business with them than a new company, but they still need to spark my interest with something new.
Another issue we see when marketers use what they know instead of what the customer knows is information overload. You have so many talking points because you live and breath this stuff every day, but to a customer, you’re just one of hundreds of marketing efforts they see each day. So instead of writing out a novel of why a customer would benefit, another phrase comes to mind… “Keep it Simple Stupid.” You don’t need to go into crazy detail to reel somebody in. Instead you’ll see much better results with a quick eye catcher, an offering statement, and a call to action. Put those three things together and watch your conversion rate jump!
So to sum up, nobody knows more about your product than you. And it’s your job to teach others about it. Just make sure when you do so that you’re playing to their level and not yours. You won’t believe the difference it can make.
