So, you have a business and you use the Internet to market it. Great. But in this hyper overflooded-with-content world, how do you get your message to stand out and reach your audience?
Before putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard, there are three questions you must answer. If you don’t, you might as well be throwing your content electrons into a black hole.
The questions are seemingly simple. But answering them could take some seriously deep work
So what are these three questions?
The first question is WHO?
Who are you creating content for? Who – exactly – is your ideal customer? Not in general terms – but specifically? Are they male? Female? In their 30s, 40s or 50s?
Are they coaches, consultants, work-at-home moms, solopreneurs, digital nomads, or what? Are they liberal, conservative, doing B2B or direct-to-consumers? Where do they live – internationally, locally, or all over the country? Are they tech savvy, tech challenged, or somewhere in-between?
You want to drill down as deeply as you possibly can into WHO your ideal customer is, and then create what’s often called an “avatar” who represents them. Think of an “avatar” as being like the person you want as a client. Give them a name. Create an image and profile for them.
The Next Question is WHAT?
What is your message? What do you want to tell that very specific person?
To answer that, you’ll have to know your avatar. What are the big challenges you solve for them? What is the pain they feel? What are the words they would use to describe that pain? If they were google your service, what would they type into the search bar?
A good place to start – what are their three biggest challenges? And how do you solve them?
Your message will likely be addressing these challenges, right?
And the Last Question – HOW?
How do you want to deliver your message to them? Is it in an email? An email linked to a video or video series? A blog post? Webinar? Downloadable PDF? LinkedIn or Facebook?
And how do you want to construct your message? Is it straight information? A customer success story? Literally, or through metaphor? Can you “show them” instead of “tell them”?
Conclusion – Answering These Questions Will Save You Time and Money
It really pays to do the research! Determine who your best customer really is, exactly what you want to tell them, and how to deliver it to them.
If you can consistently do this, your marketing success will be much, much better.
