How well do you communicate your value to your ideal client? When people reach your website, is it clear about how you help them solve a problem? If not, then you need to work on your messaging. Otherwise, all of your marketing efforts are wasted. An effective marketing message helps your target audience know exactly how you can help them and why they should work with you and not your competition.
Your clients are being bombarded with constant noise from your competition about how they will help them eliminate a pain or solve a problem. You need to be heard with a captivating message that speaks directly to the needs of your ideal client, strengthening your connection to them.
What is a marketing message?
A marketing message is how you communicate the value of your products or services to your target audience. It highlights the benefits of working with your company over your competition. A good marketing message can:
- Attract your potential customers
- Influence how they feel about your product or service
- Persuade them to take a desired action
Marketing messages are used in all your communications with your audience, whether it is in an advertisement, on your website or throughout your social media channels. For your message to be effective, make sure it talks about the benefits of your product or service, not about the product or service itself.
So, before you start any inbound marketing activities, be sure you have crafted a solid message that conveys how you can help them better than the competition.
Narrow your market
Before you can create an effective message, you need to determine exactly who you want to work with. It is much easier to strengthen your message when you are laser focused on your target audience.
If you aren’t clear about the specific audience you truly want to work with, figure it out before you develop your message, build your website or write your first email newsletter. Having a clear vision of who you can help and why will help you be more effective at reaching that audience.
Generic messages that try to reach a broad audience never works. Although many small business owners want to reach as many customers as possible, it isn’t feasible to do that and be clear about what you can do for your customers.
Focusing on a narrow market, and segmenting it further when necessary, enables you to build a loyal customer base that will pay more money for your products and services because it is specifically targeted at them.
Further Reading
Finding Your Niche through an Effective Target Market Strategy
Market Segmentation – Refining Your Target Market
Understand their challenges
Now that you understand who you want to work with, identify why your solution is right for them. You need to differentiate your business from your competition.
Answer the following questions:
- Do you know exactly what your audience is struggling with?
- How does your solution help them eliminate the challenge or improve their situation?
- What makes your solution different than the competition?
Focus on the benefits to your target. Be clear on how your product or service benefits them and why their lives will be better once they work with you.
Further Reading
Unlocking Success: 8 Powerful Ways to Differentiate Your Business
Identify how you help
Now that you know who you want to help, now it is time to communicate what your business can do for them. Your powerful marketing message needs to do just that. When crafted with care, your message can influence them to take some action and connect with your business.
Your marketing message:
- Provides a description of your business that catches your ideal client’s attention
- Tells them how you can help solve their problem for fulfill a need
- Conveys what value you bring to the relationship
- Communicates the benefit they will experience by working with you
- Motivates them to take some action
Getting all this into a message sounds like a challenging exercise. But considering that you need to put this message on everything you use for lead generation, it needs to be powerful and consistent so you never confuse your ideal target audience.
Focus on solutions
Just remember that your ideal clients do not care what you do or how you do it. They only care about what you can do for them and the benefits they will get by investing their money with you. They are looking for solutions such as:
- Solve a problem they are currently experiencing
- Improve a process that is not working for them
- Increase sales or cut costs
- Find new clients or open new markets
- Eliminate tasks they don’t want or don’t know how to do
Most problems your customer may have usually involves saving money, making more money, saving time, stop wasting time or helping them feel better about themselves. It’s not about the nifty new feature you offer or how you do something. What can you do for me that will work better than what your competition offers?
An effective marketing message attracts the right clients
Creating an effective marketing message that converts a visitor into a lead is difficult. Most businesses want to talk about everything they do and why. But a clear and powerful marketing message needs to be simple and focused directly on what’s in it for them.
- Convey how you solve their problem.
- Explain what makes you different
- Focus on educating them about the benefits of working with you
- Create an image in their minds of life after they engage with you.
Once you get their attention, they will listen to what you have to say. The more you understand the needs of your market, the better you can speak to them in a compelling and believable fashion.
Your message is crucial for all of your marketing activities. Delivering a consistent message across all of your channels will help you capture the attention of those you want to do business with.
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