It’s time for some serious marketing strategy! The title of this really sums it up: people don’t buy products and services, they buy results. In this episode, I explain this concept and share how you can start marketing the results you provide right now!
There is ALWAYS a result tied to your product, no matter what you offer. But, maybe you aren’t clear on the result part? That’s ok! This blog post (and podcast episode) are here to help. People are buying for a problem to be solved. They are hoping your product or service will do something for them.
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When a customer is dissatisfied, it’s usually because the service or product failed to meet the expectations they had for the result. When someone chooses NOT TO BUY, it’s usually because they think the service or product won’t solve their problem and get them the result. Do you see? Everything goes back to problems, results, and transformations.
People don’t buy products, they buy results.
Here’s a real life example from me this week that applies to this topic. Tennessee just went to “Hands Free Tennessee” as a new law. So, I went on Amazon and bought a car mount for my phone. I read the description, I researched, and I chose the one that would fit my phone and would mount where I wanted it to. It arrived quickly, it was good packing, easy to use. BUT… it didn’t fit my phone. It was way too small. I was buying for the result of using this to follow the law, NOT because I just wanted a car mount. The car mount, since it wasn’t the right size, couldn’t give me the result I wanted. I wasn’t buying for the car mount, I was buying for the result.
With whatever it is you are selling, are you focusing on the results? Or, are you bombarding people with only the facts? Tell your audience what the offer will do for THEM, not what the offer does.
Another relevant example is online courses. NO ONE ACTUALLY WANTS AN ONLINE COURSE. Think about it — it’s true! You want the result from the course. I recently made a big investment in an online course, and I’m not buying it because I want to “take a course”. I actually don’t want to take a course at all. It’s very time consuming, a lot of work and hours. I wouldn’t have made the investment, if the marketing just told me all the many, many, hours of learning I’ll get. I don’t want hours of learning. I want the result that I think the course can give me. If I could skip the course and just pay for the result, I would, and you would too. This course had GREAT marketing. They weren’t selling the modules and the hours of learning content, they were selling the result I would get. The success and the transformation - that’s why people buy!
Your product or service is just PART of what you’re selling. It’s not the whole thing. The transformation, result and the pain you’re solving are huge parts of your offer too. We often miss this in our marketing. If you don’t tell people what their life will look like if they buy, they will have no motivation to buy.
One of my favorite marketers, Seth Godin, talks about this in his book Purple Cow.
In one of his case studies he says this quote that has always stuck with
me as a perfect example of this.
“People don’t buy paint, they buy painted walls.”
Same with my car mount example, people aren’t buying the paint to have paint, they want painted walls. Sell the painted walls, not the paint. Talking about the details of your offer is usually easy; it’s the transformation part that is harder to focus on.
Now to get to some practical steps.
Here’s what you want to focus on in your marketing:
- Show them that YOU understand their pain/problems. (empathy)
- Show them that you have a solution to the pain/problem. (authority)
- Paint a picture of what success looks like for your customers.
- Show them what the transformation is.
Never assume that people know how the product will change their lives.
You have to tell them.
"Here's what our product can do" and "Here's what you can do with our product"
sound similar, but they are completely different approaches. - Jason Fried
Right? Sounds so similar, but it is completely different. So, here are some practical ways you can focus on “what YOU can do with our product” versus “what our product does” in your marketing.
Your vision of success for your clients shouldn’t be hazy and confusing. It needs to be clear where you’re taking them. People want to go on a journey. They want to be transformed.
My call-to-action for you is to start brainstorming where you’re taking your clients. What results can they expect? What does success look like on the other side of their journey with you? How can you say it in your marketing?
One great practice to work through this is to do a chart with the before and after your brand.
- What do they have?
- What are they feeling?
- What’s an average day like?
- What is their status?
This is from Digital Marketer. These questions are perfect ways to figure out what transformation you’re offering.
Look at the experiences and stories of past clients. What was their transformation?
What is the GOAL of what you’re doing? Start talking more about THAT.
As an example to help you really grasp these questions, listen to the podcast version of this post where I’ll walk you through how I would apply these to my website template shop.
A quote to close us out:
“Content marketing is like a first date. If you only talk about yourself,
there won’t be a second one.” - David Beebe
