#84: How to create messaging that solves your buyer’s pain points

Show Notes

Your prospective customer may be on a journey, but their path to you won’t be a straight line. So how do you create messaging that resonates and brings them closer to the sale?   

To solve that mystery co-hosts Lori Vajda and Nola Boea are taking a deep dive look at stage 2 of customer awareness, the pain/problem aware stage. But, don’t let the name fool you. This top of funnel prospect isn’t looking to make a purchase - just yet. ​

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In This Episode You’ll Learn 

• How to engage stage 2 pain aware customers appropriately.
• When you understand where a prospect is on their journey, the more focused your messaging can be.
• Marketing at this initial stage is about people who have needs — known or unknown — finding out about your business.
• Tips for successfully attracting more prospects and informally letting them know what your brand has to offer them. 

Key points Lori and Nola are sharing in this episode:
(01:58:62) Business owners tend to make this common mistake with stage 2 prospects and it could end up costing future sales.
(04:16:85) The 5 stages of awareness refers to potential customers. As a business owner, when you know the stage of awareness, you can create messaging the hits the mark with prospects. 
(11:58.93) The reason messaging at stage 2 is usually longer and more in depth. 
(13:46.91) This is why it’s so important to create different messaging regardless of whether it’s for top, middle or bottom of your sales funnel.

Resources 

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Transcripts

[00:00:00] Lori: Your perspective customer is on a journey. And while they might not care what stage of the journey they're in, as a business owner, you most certainly should. Why? Because delivering the wrong message or even a sales pitch at the wrong time, whether it's online or in-person can cost you sales. And without sales, your business won't grow and you won't prosper. So, how do you spot problem aware prospects and turn them into future customers? Stay tuned friends because in this episode, we're focusing on the types of communication that problem aware shoppers are looking for. So you can create messaging that connects and converts.
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[00:00:39] Announcer: You're listening to the sticky brand lab podcast, where time strapped professionals like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

[00:00:50] Nola: Lori, when you have a problem that's new or at the very least unfamiliar to you, where do you turn to for answers?

[00:00:58] Lori: When I was a teenager was my magic eight ball, but today it would definitely be Google.

[00:01:05] Nola: Well, actually you are not alone. Because when most people have a problem and they don't know what to do about it, they will turn to Google for an answer. And from a marketing and a sales standpoint, that's the type of buyer that is at the problem-aware stage.

[00:01:22] Lori: For listeners who have never heard that term before, what is problem aware stage?

[00:01:29] Nola: Just as the name implies, they are aware of a problem that they're having, that they just don't know enough about. And, they don't know about any kind of solutions That exist. So they're searching. Online for answers. And as a business owner, your goal is to be found as one of those resources that turn up in their Google search. But here's the thing. It's not enough to be found. You have to demonstrate that you know their problem and understand it. It's because people in stage two will enter search terms that describe their problem, not necessarily the solutions.

[00:02:06] Lori: You made me think about the fact that when they enter search terms, they tend to enter very long search terms.

[00:02:14] Nola: Yes. That's what you will hear being referred to as long tail. Keywords is almost a misnomer. It is a misnomer because it's keywords, plural. Phrases. Long ones.

[00:02:25] Lori: I mean, even I do that when I'm starting in the beginning and I'm just looking for information. I put the whole thing in, and if I don't see in any of the results, what I'm looking for, I rephrase what I'm looking for, but it's still very long.

[00:02:42] Nola: Right. It's like asking the librarian a question and then if she doesn't get it the first time, he kind of rephrase the question only the Google is your librarian. Well, anyway, we've seen websites, we've seen emails and ads totally miss the mark at this stage. And I don't know about you, but I've also heard business owners and sales professionals talking to me and totally missing the mark.

[00:03:10] Lori: Absolutely. I mean, one of the things that's most frustrating is when I don't know about something, and they start trying to tell me about their next class, their webinar, their product. I feel like they're jumping the gun and I'm still in that very.

[00:03:28] Nola: whoa, dude.

[00:03:30] Lori: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So the point that I think that we were trying to make, or the reason that we think that this is such an important topic, we first introduced the idea of the stages of awareness back in episode 77. And in that we described there's five stages of awareness. The first stage we told people, don't even think about because that person doesn't even know that there's a potential for a problem. And that got you to talk about the fact that you live on property with ants and that for you, that wasn't a problem. And it only became a problem...

[00:04:06] Nola: when they were big Hills with fire ants, it's like, oh Yeah. that's a problem. Let me find out more about this fire ant thing.

[00:04:15] Lori: Yeah. So one way to think about the stages of awareness is it actually refers to the degree to which they understand that they have a pain point or they're looking for a solution or a product or whatever that is. So when you, as the resource match the message to the stage they're at, that's when a connection happens.And Nola as business owners. Why is that so important?

[00:04:43] Nola: Well, this like any relationship, you don't want to be too pushy on the first date. Right? I mean, even going to any kind of sales floor, if I'm browsing around and the salesperson comes up to me, I want them to respect that I'm just browsing. And not try to push any kind of product on me. And, by the same token, when I'm ready to buy, I would like you to be on hand, but just, you know, know where I'm at, and respect that. Right?

[00:05:10] Lori: Exactly.

[00:05:12] Nola: So knowing where that customer is at in their buying journey is critical to ensuring that you always have prospects in your funnel. And this episode, we're going to be going more into the details about stage two of awareness more specifically prospects in stage two are people who have started to be bothered by a particular problem or pain point.

[00:05:35] Lori: And just to clarify, when we use the term problem or pain point, it doesn't have to be a true problem or a true pain point. For example, you and I were discussing that we needed to give out a phone number for our service, and we didn't need that before just as podcasters, but we're wanting to introduce a different service. And in order to have people contact us, beyond emailing, we needed a phone. But because we don't have an office, because we live in two different states, we didn't know what was available to match our needs. So the high-level search is really about that discovery.

[00:06:18] Nola: You nailed it. Because a problem aware visitor to your website might find it because they are searching for a specific answer to a question. actually, it's more of a research query, for example. like you had said, how do we find a phone that does this, this and this and this, and I'm sure you had a really long tail search terms,

[00:06:42] Lori: I did. Just as an example on that when I was doing search. So I was reading recommendations from people who had written, blog posts or articles for tools. For remote workers or tools for freelancers. And that's how I ended up discovering the system that we ended up using. But I had no idea what that was. I wasn't looking specifically for a app or a particular device or a particular, anything. I just needed to know that some solution existed for our needs.

[00:07:20] Nola: You were just doing discovery, right?

[00:07:23] Lori: Exactly.

[00:07:24] Nola: another example might be What is the easiest bookkeeping system for a small business? Am I saying, Hey, who out there has a bookkeeping software for me to buy? No, I'm not saying that I'm really researching for what exists what's out there.Or maybe I have a question about. Why do homemade tuna sandwiches taste different from the ones made in the deli? Am I saying, Let me see all the delis in my neighborhood near me? No, that's not what I'm saying. I want to know more about what goes into the making of that tuna sandwich,

[00:08:02] Lori: It's funny that you should say that because this is a shout-out to an old marketplace in Fort Lauderdale that was close to where I lived Fernandez. it was an Italian, marketplace. They had amazing bread and they did veggie sandwiches. They did. Regular meat sandwiches too, but they, the whole combination of the things that they put together, it makes my mouth water just as I'm talking about it, because it takes me back.

 Even if I were looking at a bookkeeping system, which you had mentioned before, if I wasn't sure if I needed a book keeper, a bookkeeping system or an accountant, I might put in a search query that tells me when you’re just getting started. What's the difference between a book keeper and an accountant so that I could be informed that then would begin a more diligent search later on? And that's important because prospects at that high level are not looking for a solution to purchase. They're looking for a solution in general. And if you're a business owner and you're writing in response to that search, this is where keywords definitely make a difference. So for example, homemade tuna sandwiches or deli tuna sandwiches or bookkeeper and accountant. You almost have to put yourself in the shoes of a prospective customer.

So, I'm going to build off of that whole thing that you talked about on tuna sandwich, even though as a vegetarian, I don't eat tuna sandwiches. I might put in what's a good tuna substitute for a vegan or a vegetarian? If Google returned solutions for me, I would be looking for a solution that was listed with a title that matched my query. How to make great tuna sandwiches that tastes as good or better than the deli, for example.

[00:10:01] Nola: And you're not necessarily looking for a solution to buy. You're looking for answers to your query general solutions, general research information, right?

[00:10:11] Lori: Exactly. And a good example on that is, anybody who's ever looked for a recipe online you go to find a recipe, you open it up. There is an entire article before you get to the recipe itself. And here's why they do this, and this is why it ties in. Google recognizes conversations or articles. So if it was just a recipe with measurements and ingredients, it wouldn't populate with the same search results. So by putting a conversation or writing it like you would an article, it allows both the writer and the reader to understand some significant components to that recipe.

So you as the writer, want to use language that shows empathy. I understand why having that great deli sandwich is so important to you because I have my favorite deli or if it was a family recipe, I might talk about the family member that passed it down from generation to generation and how it's a big part of our family.

All of that shows a kindred connection to the reader. It says, I get why you're searching for this recipe. And let me tell you why this recipe or this, whatever, is so important because I've been where you've been. And here's my story.

You're really immersing yourself into your reader's experience, and sharing that you understand it. It's not the time to talk to them about the products or services that you sell or that you have available.

[00:11:56] Nola: That's a very good point. And so the messaging for this stage is usually longer and more in depth. Just like you were describing this such detail because you're really helping your audience identify and understand their problem. Now their problem may not always be getting the best sandwich because now my problem is I'm hungry, but it could be whatever it is that of course relates, to your, your field.

But do research to identify keywords and phrases you can incorporate into your websites, headlines, titles, and body copy. That these Potential customers at are in stage two would be typing into Google to be researching that problem.

[00:12:41] Lori: Yeah, a good example of that would be, if you just said, how to make a great tuna sandwich, that might not have as much of a connection as from your favorite deli. Just adding that little bit more. And when you're doing your keyword search or your Google search for yourself to get in the mindset of your reader, when you see the results, you can see what types of content there is, how they did the title, if it really matches how you think differentiates you from those other authors. You use the example of doing relevant search. Here, it could be for a blog post. It could be for social media. It could be for an infographic that shows the different steps to making a great sandwich or whatever the topic is.

[00:13:37] Nola: Right. So you're doing your competitive intelligence and you're offering information that will really resonate with people who are looking for that information.

[00:13:46] Lori: I think one thing that's important here is that people at this stage are at the top of the funnel. Granted they're the furthest away from purchase or subscribing or whatever it is that your business model is based on, but you need people at the top of the funnel. You need them at the middle of the funnel. And of course you need people at the bottom of the funnel. So you constantly have to produce information or materials that really resonates with every stage that people are at.

So one of the things that often people are told is you need to have a lead gen and you tend to do a general lead gen. Like I think one of our early lead gens was, we had a list of side hustles that you could do. That's general, we didn't have anything else. When your lead gen is so broad people aren't going to sign up for that. In this case, when you know it's top of funnel, and I'm going to go back to that whole tuna sandwich or deli sandwich type of thing, the next lead gen, if you will, is to try and match it to what they're already interested in. Because you've got their attention. If you've written it and it resonates with them, then the next baby step could be something as simple as, if you loved this article, you'll love my 10 lunch recipes you can make in less than 10 minutes. You want to be able to continue that relationship, right You've had now your first date or first meeting, and you want to get them on a date. This is a great way to think about it.

So you've got to, you've had to make a really good first impression and you want to keep that connection happening. So you wouldn't say, Hey, let me take you away for the weekend for our very first date, you might suggest something that's a little less intimidating. It bridges the connection between that first meeting and what comes next.

[00:15:49] Nola: Because when you know which stage of awareness your prospective buyer is in, you'll know what you need to say and what they need to hear in order to move them closer to the sale.

[00:16:00] Lori: Yeah. And that gives you a starting point to building know, like, and trust relationship with your prospect.

[00:16:08] Nola: There you go. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope it makes all the difference in you getting started on your business so you can create your best and most exciting life. If you found the information shared here today, helpful let us know by posting here where you're listening or on our Facebook page.

[00:16:26] Lori: Not sure how to turn your idea into a profitable side business? Contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact. We'd be happy to help you.

[00:16:36] Nola: Be sure to come back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember, action creates results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day. Small steps, big effects.

 [OUT-TAKE]

[00:16:58] Nola: I don't know where that came from. You're looking at the sticky brand lab podcast. Yeah, I'm over it.