Nobody cares about your company.
Not before they ever heard about it, not because you got that first click, and not in the first few minutes they’re engaged with it. And that’s no matter how genuinely incredible your product or service is.
- Everyone’s been burned by a purchase before — they know that they need to do a little research before buying anything significant
- Everyone’s busy, and if you don’t seize their attention and keep it, they’ve got other links to click
- If they don’t like what they see, your competition is seconds away
- If they’re landing on your site for the first time… they’re probably nowhere near ready to buy
Absolutely not pictured: your first time reader
Your instinct might be to talk about how awesome you are at the top of every page. If it’s the third page your reader’s clicked on, that may be fine — if they’ve gotten that far, they might be ready to hear the pitch.
But you can’t do it on every page. You have to connect with your reader first.
Anticipate What They’re Searching For
The first thing a potential buyer is likely to search for is not your company, and probably not even your product category. That’s because in the earliest stage of their buyer’s journey, the only thing they know is that they have a problem.
- An office manager is going to search for efficiency tips before realizing a SaaS product might be the answer
- A startup CEO might be searching for the basics of getting IT set up before he considers an MSP as the solution
- A building manager may be searching for ideas to lower the costs of running the building before understanding how solar panels might fit into that
These people are experiencing some pain achieving their goals. Given the choice between an article emphasizing with that pain and explaining how they can alleviate that pain and an article pitching your product, which will they be more likely to read?
Think about this guy. He's ready to lose it because he's forced to do monotonous work that maybe your app can automate.
Respond to Reader Pain to Maintain Their Attention
Every problem has multiple companies providing a solution and buyers weigh their purchasing decision based on many factors. Price is obviously always important, as is their confidence that you’re competent enough to provide the solution.
But most important is trust. People want to do business with people and companies they feel they can trust.
Regardless of whose price undercuts whose, when you have trust, you win. A less trusted, less expensive competitor appears cheap and unreliable. A more expensive, less trusted competitor may seem too aloof and unlikely to care about you as an individual client.
If something goes wrong, do they believe you’ll make it right? Do they feel that you’re actually paying attention to their specific needs, or that your industry is an afterthought? Do they have confidence that you’ll continue developing your service, or are they dissuaded from going with you because they fear they’ll have to find a new partner in two years?
Addressing Pain Points Helps People Feel Heard
Develop your personas, your representative profiles of the types of people you’re selling to, and spend particular time understanding the pains they’re experiencing. It is these pain points that should guide your campaigns. Use them to build editorial calendars for blogging, and use them when crafting the wording on landing pages, emails — everything.
When they show up on your website, make sure they land on something helpful
If you make it clear that you’re listening to the real problems people experience on-the-ground in their roles at their jobs, you’re going to get their attention for the simple reason that it’s going to make them feel validated. They’re not alone — other people struggle just like they do, and there’s a way to overcome their challenges.
This is all part of something we do called Marketing Enablement. It means reviewing your marketing processes and identifying where you have opportunities for improving your lead attraction and conversion. It covers stuff just like this: understanding where your potential customers are coming from, and what it's going to take to earn their trust and, ultimately, their business.
If you want to learn more about what we do, you can always reach out right here — or learn more about Marketing Enablement.
