Welcome to part 3 of this series of articles on creating authentic messaging for authentic and strong connections to our buyers. This article keeps us moving along the buyer journey as shown here:
It’s a must to have our buyers know we exist by attracting them to us, but to move things forward a “connection” needs to happen…. that connection being one that isn’t directly about selling … as buyers in this stage may still not have any type of active need for our solutions.

So what makes a connection? Something that turns their head, catches their eye, calls for a high five ….. something that lets them know/feel that we “get them” .. and something that will build upon the trust established in the attraction stage by adding credibility.

We can get ideas by going to the results of our products & services and identifying a “specific” that will totally resonate with specific buyers. Then we choose our target buyer and match it to a targeted specific “moment” or “completion” or “favorite” or “an ideal” or “wish I could” .. etc. etc.

Another source of ideas is to go to the emotions that come with success and happiness within the industry / lifestyle / community that we share with our buyers. What are some specific matches that will appeal to those emotions … the four core emotions being physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual.

Again, we are not trying to sell the whole package, not even a piece of it. We are just looking for a “connection” for that one specific … nothing more!!! And we are not limited to one. We can have multiple specifics for multiple targets … but each one works on its own within our entire market.

To continue with my “fishing” analogy .. making a connection is the same as putting bait on the hook. If we put one type of bait on the hook trying to attract any or all of the multiple types of fish in our waters, they will all swim by (unless for some reason they are starving!!) They all swim by because there is nothing enticing enough to their tastes to bother biting.

When we target our choice of bait for a single type of fish within the multiple types in our waters, we have success! They bite! It’s like us as humans…. even if we are not hungry we find it impossible to pass up a bite of that chocolate cake, etc.

One more thought to remember … we just want them to bite, i.e. … “connect” and move the established awareness further along …building upon our initial trustworthiness and adding some credibility. Our buyers still don’t have to know what our business is even about! We are simply building relationships that will be in place when their seeded needs start to sprout and grow!

Active needs and engaging is in our next article .. and of course engaging & converting our prospects… all the while creating new, repeat and referral business.

Till then be …. #communicationsstrong

Here’s to your communications success!

margie

This is part 2 of a 4 part series. It began with an introduction to the buyer journey and the trifecta used for our business communications. Click here to review if you missed it. Going forward, today and in the next 2 articles in the series, we’re diving deeper into using the trifecta for developing authentic messaging and content.

So let’s begin with conversations that will attract prospects to us. All we want to do is simply let them know we exist, because at this point, they have no active need for our offerings. Selling is NOT useful at this stage … we only want to enable these future buyers to be aware of us. It’s the beginning of “leading” our buyers to us so upon their needs being activated, due to the nature of the industry / business / company / lifestyle they are part of, we are already bonded with them. We are at the very beginning of the buyer journey which is also our seller journey.

Over the years I’ve used the analogy of fishing …in which we are attracting “fishes” to our “waters.” Or you might think of the car industry in which the buyers drive cars. Not all people who drive cars need a new one at a given time, BUT it is important for them to be aware of sources for a new car when the need appears and becomes active.

What type of authentic content can be created for this stage of the buyer journey? The first step is to again, wipe the slate clean of any selling of our offerings in these early stages of attracting … we are opening up relationships and building trust. Products & services will appear in conversations in due time and at the appropriate times through this process.

Going to the trifecta … buyer, business and self … authentic content that attracts comes from knowing our buyer and how well we can match our self to our buyer. To do this, we explore & identify all the pieces of their “being” … their industry, company, what seeds their needs, what is their job/position doing for their career purposes and for personal purposes, what are their values – company wise and personally, who are they? What is their lifestyle and what motivates them… makes them happy … challenges them? If applicable, their age, sex, interests, etc. Having a firm knowledge of all this as applicable gives us lots of sources for attracting new prospects authentically.

What we do with all this gathered information is create conversations that show we have knowledge and insight about the industry and/or lifestyle interests we share with our prospects. Articles, news reports, financial activity, mergers, new products, etc.   Also the specific company that a prospect works for ….who else works there …. what is the culture of the specific company … what is new with them … why are they good. Maybe something about the venue where we are meeting (online & offline), maybe a zoom meeting we both attended … the organization hosting the event, and the list goes on.  The news of the day can be relevant (or not .. careful with this one).

If it’s not an industry that is shared, it may be a shared lifestyle that breeds a shared interest .. such as soccer moms, etc. Maybe a shared community .. such as in the world of real estate!  None of these conversations will have anything directly to do with our offerings but instead everything to do with the establishment of a matched and mutual understanding of the environment we share … the environment that seeds and creates active needs for our offerings.

Other ideas come from going beyond our prospect’s business day. Find out about their home life, their interests, outside activities. Do their kids play the same sports as our own kids. Do we both have tickets to the opera. Do we live in the same neighborhood or maybe we have worked at the same company in the past? We need to keep our eyes open for what bonds us as people with our tie to them being sharing the same industry/lifestyle/ interest. It is all about building trust, developing relationships and creating awareness that we exist!

I can remember when I first worked at Cisco. Those were the days when our 1st appointment was the relationship building stage. Cisco had an unknown product at the time and our job was to go out and simply “chat” with companies. Introduce ourselves, find out what they were up to, what challenges existed, etc. Build rapport & trust under the shared interest that we both lived in the world of voice & data communications. This is no different now with online communications. We just create it via frequent visibility with messaging and postings. The openings of relationships will pretty much always begin in this way … online and offline.  We just need to know our buyer OR opportunities will go right past us online… quickly and often. The earlier we can become a part of a prospects buyer journey the more market share and eventual business we will acquire.

Give this some thought and let me know your questions.  Part 3 will be all about making “connections” with these prospects. The stuff that goes beyond being aware, but makes them stop and take notice, give us a high-five, make them believe we “get them” .. gets us deeper into their heads!

Till then be  #communicationsstrong 

Here’s to your communications success!

margie

Picture This! You sit down at your computer, all set to write your blog post and it hits you … you can’t think of anything to say!   You could describe your business but that is what you always post. You could talk about your products, but the best advice is not to bluntly sell in one’s messaging , soooo … what is there to talk about?  What should you say?

Have you experienced this? Have you been there?  The truth is there are many sources to “go to” for messaging and content ideas. NOT the premade kind, nor the bought kind … but the authentic and original kind that will create connections to buyers!

One of our best sources for ideas is knowing our buyers’ journey. In today’s world of buying and selling we must connect with our buyers before they have an active need of our offerings. We must be involved early on so that we can lead our buyers to us throughout the buying & selling paths of attract, connect, engage, convert & advocate.

1. What is the “world” our buyers live in that seeds the need for what we offer?
2. What are specific triggers that make those seeds sprout & thus activate at some level (low to high) the needs for what we offer?
3. How are our products & services matched to our buyer’s specific need(s)… feature & benefit?
4. What are our terms, pricing & added-value that our buyers embrace, separating us from competition, securing the trust of our buyers, and/or maybe providing a unique benefit to our buyers.?
5. What do we provide after the sale is done to receive from each buyer, new, repeat & referral business?

Lots of different types of messaging & content … with room for lots of ideas!  And in addition, keep in mind what I refer to as the trifecta of content and conversation

The trifecta includes the “3” primary elements of all successful selling 

1. Our Business – How our offerings, services, terms & conditions, location, pricing, etc are a match for the needs of our buyers.
2. Our Buyers – Their industry, company, what seeds their needs, what are they really buying both for their business purposes and for personal reasons.  Who are they? If applicable, age, sex, interests, lifestyle, What are their values – company wise and personally.
3. Our Self –  Our knowledge of our buyer’s shared industry/company, our credibility, experience, shared interests with buyer, sensitivity to buyers, standards of service, and our values and personal interests.

After reviewing our buyer journey and our trifecta, it’s time to choose a target audience and a specific purpose for our communications. Last but hardly least, write & post!

I’ll be expanding on all the creative ideas that are available from the trifecta in the next 3 articles, but in the mean time, see what ideas you can come up with on your own. I am happy to go over them with you if you wish. Simply send me an email at margieh@todaysway.net to schedule a call.. You may also be interested in a private class I offer, “How to create a week’s worth of content from one single idea!”… works like a charm!

Here’s to your communications success!

#communicationsstrong — margie