Take My Money

I’m a parent of 4 kids from 8 to 19 years old, so I’m a pretty experienced (Skeptical? Let’s go with discerning…) member of a target demographic. Marketing aimed at moms has to be top tier to move the needle for me. I’ve bought that life-changing product and tried those 3 magic steps and I can’t be conned. Again. I can’t be conned again. 

Enter Dr. Becky, author and founder of Good Inside. Her marketing is flawless. Spot on. Take my money, Dr. Becky. Whether or not you’re a parent, go take notes on how her clear and compelling messaging is applied to her marketing. Yes, her methods resonate with me, but what gets me every time is how crystal clear she is in her messaging. I know exactly what she is offering and how it will help me. Sold. 

If your marketing isn’t getting those “take my money” results, it’s a point of frustration. What you need is a streamlined marketing plan that gets results - one that generates leads and converts browsers into buyers. Maybe you’ve cobbled together a marketing plan and are getting lackluster results. 

The problem with cobbled together marketing plans is that they look and feel chaotic. Without a strategic plan and clear messaging:

• People stop paying attention
• Leads fall through the cracks
• Emails you send go unopened
• Your marketing efforts drain resources and yield lackluster results

Here’s the good news: we can apply some tried and true messaging and marketing principles to create a streamlined marketing plan that works. 

Move From Chaos to Clarity

Before you calendar out a whole marketing strategy, you need to start with your messaging - you can put together a sales funnel, launch a new website, or get a CRM with all the bells and whistles, but if your messaging is chaotic, your marketing plan will fall flat. Let’s apply 3 simple principles to your marketing efforts to help streamline your marketing plan. 

Have you ever wordsmithed a message into something catchy but sacrificed clarity in the process? Remember this: when you confuse, you lose. Donald Miller, author and CEO of StoryBrand, unpacks this concept, explaining that people don’t buy the best product - they buy the one that they can understand the fastest. Get really clear answers to these questions:

• Who is your ideal customer?
• What does your ideal customer want?
• What problem is getting in their way?
• What product or service can you offer as a solution to that problem?

In a recent blog post, we shared that the Common Marketing Mistake Most Businesses Make is talking about themselves more than their customer. Here’s a far more effective strategy: Start talking about your customer’s problem and keep talking about it. THEN talk about the product or service you can offer as a solution

Now it’s time to build trust with empathy and authority. As you talk about those pesky problems, couch it understanding, using statements like: 

“We get it… so many business owners struggle with…” or 

“Of course you’re frustrated, no one should have to live with…” 

Empathy removes embarrassment and normalizes the struggle, making it easier to reach out for a solution. But don’t stop there - empathy is great, but you need that audience to trust you as an expert. This is where you throw in some authority-building statements. Clearly and succinctly list a few differentiators like:

• Certifications or degrees
• Years in business
• Number of happy customers served
• Testimonials - these should name how you helped a happy customer solve their problem and give a picture of the success they achieved as a result

It Starts with Messaging

If your messaging is clear, you’ll have a more streamlined marketing plan with stronger results. Applying these 3 principles to your marketing plan will help you move from chaos to clarity and grow your business. I dig deeper into these principles with every client I take through the research-proven StoryBrand Framework and they consistently narrate a sense of clarity and confidence around their marketing efforts as a result. 

Which principle resonates most with you?