In an ideal world, your offering is the solution for the issues that keep your clients up at night.
These anxieties are the barriers that keep businesses from getting better. You want your brand to inspire people to find those weak spots in the workplace and improve on them. These are the slow servers, the ineffective productivity software, or the lack of automation software.
The idea is you want to help your audience overcome their fears and take the first step towards solving their problems. Preferably with your content and eventually, product.
Talk about a problem that your audience has, then give them steps to take to remedy it. You know, using a video, email, infographic, etc.
Challenge them to challenge themselves and the other stakeholders. Instead of saying something is broken or cannot be done, your offering should encourage them to tackle the issue.
CHALLENGE THEM TO GET STARTED
I’ve recently started to play mandolin. I was able to purchase a beginner instrument for about $100 from Amazon. That price point was approachable. Even if I had hated the mandolin, I wouldn’t have been out that much money for it. But it was a low-risk way for me to have my own to try out before I bought.
That’s what you want to do for your customers. Make it easy for them to get started solving their problem.
This might be giving them the very first step to solving their problem. Like a post that explains what questions to ask when looking for a new software solution.
That challenges the anxiety of someone trying to figure out where to start when getting that new piece of software. They are now armed with a plan of attack, which is often the hardest part of solving problems in the professional world (and beyond)
Another version of this, later in the funnel, is offering a free trial or discount on your offering. This makes the barrier to entry much lower for them. Like my mandolin, they can see if they like it before they commit to a large expense.
CHALLENGE THEM TO CREATE CONTENT
This is a technique that works for both current customers and potential customers.
For current customers, encourage them to post to social about their positive experience with your brand. Or maybe have them create something with your offering or show off your offering in a picture (if it is more than a digital product).
If you create brand swag, encourage them to post showing off that swag. But if you do this, make sure it’s swag that people would want to be seen wearing out in public. Bad brand swag doesn’t do anyone any favors.
For people who are not yet your customers, create giveaways and competitions. Ensure that the competition is relevant to your brand and its mission, while also targeting the right people.
This can and should also be a lead building opportunity. Find people who are interested in your offering, then tell them they need to follow your brand on a couple of your social channels and like one of your posts.
Another route would be to direct your audience to your website, then have them fill out a brief form so you can contact them if they win the competition.
Instead of giving them a generic gift card or something equally as irrelevant, try giving them a free month of your services or software. This connects the giveaway with your brand more and helps ensure that those who enter your contest are actual, qualified leads.
CHALLENGE THEM TO REACH OUT
Finally, challenge them to reach out.
Some brands do that too soon. Don’t ask me to fill out a contact form or make me ask for a quote right after I land on your website.
The point where you ask the user to fill out their contact information is one fraught with friction. The user needs to be ready to make the commitment. This is done by either offering something as or more valuable than the contact information they’re providing OR by making it so clear that your offering is needed that they just jump right in.
Give them value or get them excited. Those are your two best options. It takes a fair bit of trust for leads to do either one of these things, but challenging them to do so will separate the committed from the uncommitted.
Your brand solves problems, if it weren’t, you wouldn’t be making any money. Learn to frame your offering as a challenge to the stagnation that often comes as a part of business.
Maybe their servers are too slow. If you sell cloud storage, get them imagining what your fast, massive server can do to solve their data accessibility woes.
Challenge them to engage, to solve their problems, to reach out for help. If you succeed in doing so, your brand will not struggle to bring in revenue. If it does, maybe it is time to reevaluate your offering.
