It is a good bet that most companies can tell their own story and boast of their passionate commitment to their goods and services. However, many of these high-passion businesses have marketing campaigns that fail. Why are they unsuccessful, even if the product is good and the passion for the company is high? The lack of success correlates with the simple fact that your potential customers do not care about your story and passion; instead, they want solutions to their problems.
Successful marketing campaigns focus on two simple sentences:
1. “Our clients hire us to provide [insert benefits here.]”
2. “They hire us, rather than somebody else, because [insert unique feature of product/service that fits a customer’s need.]”
At the Heart of It
These sentences shift the focus of from you as a story/product to you as the catalyst that helps the customer reach their goals. You can practice this strategy and implement aspects of it immediately. Focus on writing and speaking about your company in this manner. Avoid simple descriptions of your passion for your product and shift the emphasis to results for your customers (i.e., an increase in sales; wider distribution of services; other benefits). The customer should not have to figure out what you can do for them; think from the customer’s perspective and create a message that engages the customer in how you can help them. Make the emphasis less on your story and more on the customer’s needs. The resulting messages will generate more interest than the passionate story you have about your business. Once you are in business the focus should be on the customer, not you!