Most businesses never succeed at creating a message that resonates with their audience.
That’s a pretty bold statement but it’s true. And there’s a single reason for it:
They don’t think deeply enough about their audience’s pain points (also known as felt needs) and address how they solve those pain points in their marketing messaging.
Let me give you an example…
An average mattress company will talk about the features of their mattresses. We offer a variety of sizes. Our mattresses are filled with air. Or, our mattresses are made out of certain types of foam.
A slightly better mattress company will talk about the benefits of the features. We offer a variety of sizes in stock so you don’t have to drive all over town to get the size you need. Or, our memory foam mattresses help you stay cool at night so you don’t wake up in a sweat.
Slightly better than that would be, our mattresses help you get a good night’s sleep.
But, I’d even ask the question, “What’s the end goal of a good night’s sleep?” When you answer that question — “Our mattresses help you get a good night’s sleep so you feel fresh and alert for that important business meeting the next day!” — you can sell to people’s real emotions.
Too often, we sell features. Most often, people buy based on removing emotional pain points (or, the inverse, creating an emotional joy point).
We need to think more deeply about the felt needs of our audience and our solution to that felt need.
Nobody’s buying a mattress because they want a cool piece of foam on their bed pedestal. They’re buying a good night’s sleep. No, they’re buying feeling good the next day.
If you sell a product or service, you’re not selling the main feature of your product or service. You’re selling the benefit that feature provides. But if you really want your message to resonate with your customer, don’t only sell the primary benefit. Sell the deep, secondary and third-level benefits you solve.
Think about what customer struggles with:
- They’re too busy.
- They have too many demands on their time.
- They’re short on money.
- They’re trying to live vicarously through their kids.
- They’re trying to keep up with the Joneses.
- Their marriages suck.
- They’re stuck in their jobs.
- They’re worried about retirement.
- You get the picture…
Now, reposition your service, product, etc. to solve one of those problems and you’ve got a winning message.
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If you’d like a FREE audit/analysis of your marketing messaging, we really enjoy helping businesses and individuals work through it. Contact us and we’ll book a time to chat. No pressure or obligation…just a chat…we’re here to help.