But It’s Not What I Like!

It’s the biggest complaint in the marketing world – business owners telling marketers and ad teams “it’s not what I like” or “I wouldn’t buy from that.” Yes, business owners have to like their marketing strategy to an extent. They have to be comfortable with it, it has to provide their voice, it has to represent them, but not everything about a marketing strategy needs the final
“I’d buy from that” approval. Because, like it or not, YOU are not the customer, and YOU are not the intended target.

Just like Nicole discussed in one of her first blogs, business owners can get a bit too stuck in the bottle. So many business owners know their business inside and out, and they know what the difference is between and attorney and a lawyer or what chattel means in a listing. However, people who may be looking for their particular business have no clue what we just said. As a business owner, you enjoy articles about the updated economic stance in the local county or new technologies achieved in the field of podiatry. All that your customers care about are whether they will be able to find a job with your agency or if you will be able to stop that nagging pain when they walk. That’s where your marketing team steps in – to assure your customers that you can fix their problem without confusing them with technical terminology.

The biggest thing to remember as a business owner is that you are not going to buy from your business. Yes, if you need a product or service you will call on your own company, but you are not who you are trying to get to pick up the phone or walk in the door. You already know you have a superior product, you now need to convince others that your product is better. How do you do this? By connecting with people. Provide a variety of ways for very different consumers to connect with you – funny comics and memes, inspirational quotes, statistics, articles about your field (that are not too technical to cause the consumer to be thrown into a tizzy), pictures of you in the community, and so on. People need to know that you ARE human and that you can make a legitimate connection beyond the technical. They want an expert that can talk to them, not talk down to them. If two mechanics are vying for one consumer, the mechanic that can connect and engage with average people will beat out the mechanic that posts nothing but new tools and information that other mechanics will like almost every time.

There’s also a nice balance you need to follow when it comes to trying to engage your customers. You need to provide that fun connection while still showing your proficiency in a field. Sure, posting about beauty trends, inspirational quotes, and diet tips is great, but if you aren’t letting us know how you can help us find a prom or wedding dress when we need one, we probably won’t remember you when the time comes. You need to pepper in reminders of what you can do for your customers – articles about fashion news as it relates to your business, links back to your website that show your expertise, and general descriptions of services and products you can provide that people may not know they are looking for.

If you are needing help trying to connect with your consumers, you can always ask for help from us at Harness Digital Marketing. We can help you #TurnTheLightBulbOn when connecting and selling to your potential customers.

By Nicole Firebaugh | @nicole_fir

By Laurel White | @laurelnwhite92