Little White Marketing Lie #7: "We Should Talk About Our Business"

If you’ve been in business very long, it’s likely you’ve had to create scripts and write marketing copy for your website, advertisements, signs, postcards or other items which fall under the general heading, “marketing collateral.” And no doubt you’ve taken the opportunity to talk about the things you love most about your business, or the things you think other people would most appreciate.

But the truth is, for the most part, your marketing shouldn’t be about your business at all. Apart from your actual call to action or telling people where to obtain the solutions you provide, most of your marketing should ‘talk about’ your customers and prospects.

Ironically, you probably went into business in the first place because you wanted to provide solutions people need and want. But to look at most advertising and marketing copy, you would think that most businesses believe that they are their own reason for existing. Somewhere along the line, people lost track of what is really at the heart of each and every business: the wants and needs of their customers.

Effective marketing speaks to customer needs and wants. When you talk about your business, you’re more likely to be thinking from the standpoint of what your business needs and wants (customers and sales) vs. what your customers and prospects truly need and want.

Take time to make a list of the things that your customers most need and want (this may require that you do some market research) that your business provides:

• what problems do they have (that your business solves)
• what do they desire (that your business provides)
• what do they value in their customer experiences

Write marketing copy that establishes your understanding of their needs and wants – copy that puts you all “in the same boat,” so to speak. Once you have their attention and you’ve shown them that you understand what they really want and need, then point out how your business can meet those wants and needs. Design your marketing to talk not about your business or your own personal amazing-ness; instead, focus on the benefits the customer can expect as a result of using your products or services, and as a result of doing business with you.

Great marketing keeps the spotlight on the true star of your business story: the customer!

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Elizabeth Kraus is the author of the newly released 365 Days of Marketing and Make Over Your Marketing: 12 Months of Marketing for Salon and Spa, available on amazon.com or 12monthsofmarketing.com.

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