It’s ironic that my industry – which is marketing – whose single purpose is to connect clients with customers is so filled with our own opaque jargon and buzzwords. And while many of these terms hide important concepts and methods, these are hard for those outside the industry to understand. This is true for businesses in any industry: you will have an internal voice of terms and styles within your company and industry, but one that will be hard for your clients to understand. Today we’ll look at how to bridge that gap between companies and clients, getting clients to understand and value what it is you do.
Identifying Your Consumers
You may already have a pretty good idea of who buys your products and services, but does that line up with who you want to sell to? Many clients we work with are always looking to expand, either laterally to expand their base or to move up to sell to fewer bigger clients who need more services, especially common in B2B industries. You may need help from a marketing team (and some technical API work) to identify your current customer base as well as who you can expand to.
Making Clients Understand the Value of Your Services
When you know who your clients are, you need to get both of you on the same page. As mentioned above, you know why your services are useful, but all too often it is cloaked behind a layer of technical descriptions and industry slang.
- Speak Their Language: If you’re targeting a younger demographic, use their terminology and style. Speak to them on their platforms, such as using Instagram to connect with younger millennials.
- Align with Their Interests: One of the best ways of getting people interested in your product is to apply it to an issue they would commonly experience. Help them understand how this product improves their lives, lowers costs, etc.
- Provide Education: If it’s hard to easily explain your product and services (or the benefit they provide), think about providing education on the topic. Write blogs, do Q&As, draw infographics: people like to learn, so provide them with the tools to learn about your product.
- Be Memorable: At the core of all great advertising is making people take note of you. As an example, GEICO is a boring insurance company, but its humor non-sequitur commercials make them stand out in the minds of consumers.
Bringing All of This Together: Branding
We do a lot of work for clients that falls under “branding” or “rebranding,” which is essentially re-focusing a company on its clients. This could be what they say to customers (messaging), how they target them (both online and off), and even how people see the company (logo redesigns, website redesigns).
Need help speaking the lingo of your audience? From full rebranding campaigns with website and logo reworks to simply helping you establish and expand your online presence through SEO, social media, and online advertising. It’s time to contact Vision. We’re a full-service marketing agency, specializing in comprehensive internet marketing – from websites to social media and everything in-between. Contact us today to start the discussion and find out if partnering with our digital marketing agency is right for you.
