Why Even Care?
In a world where everyone competes for attention, standing out is an absolute must. Over my few years of marketing, getting good answers to the below questions always made my life easier.
While I could write on each of these questions for hours (and I intend to), this serves as a basic post to dip your toes in the water.
What pain drives the customer’s decision?
This is the most basic question that can be asked. When it comes to decision making, the most common decision to make is no decision. By pushing on pain, marketers can help overcome that indecision.
What pleasure drives the customer’s decision?
Finding the tangible benefits to a problem are among the most basic things you can learn. The more specific that you can get, the better.
What does the customer know?
If an audience has already heard the same message over and over again, by the time you tell it, they won’t care.
By figuring out what an audience already knows, the key differentiators can be found that will motivate a purchase, or a switch from an old product to a new product.
How aware is the customer that their problem is solvable?
Customers can fall into a number of different categories:
- Most aware: “I need it now”
- Aware: “I can wait”
- Unaware: “I don’t know of a solution to my problem”
- Unaware: “Problem? What problem?”
By figuring out awareness, marketing messages can be targeted to different demographics in unique ways that drive the right kind of interest.
What compelling promise can you make that will be believed?
Each product needs to have one core promise to a demographic. Importantly, this promise needs to be believable.
With the above pre-requisites, what promise can be made that will stand out from others and compel immediate action or interest?
When you get down to it, this is the core of marketing, and understanding these questions is the first step to a successful product.
Other Questions
These questions, while not as critically important, still drive insight that can be used to shape the promise:
What is the customer’s journey?
How does a customer interact with your business? What steps do they take as they work with you?
What is the customer’s motivation journey?
What separates a customer who buys today vs who will buy in six months? What needs to happen within those six months for the customer to buy?
What objections will come up to the core promise?
A promise that isn’t believed is worthless.