Three Questions Every Customer Asks That Your Marketing Strategy Must Answer

It’s difficult for business owners and technical subject matter experts to not love the products and services they sell, particularly professionals and subject matter experts. However, one of the biggest mistakes of business owners and leaders of small and mid size firms make is to focus only on themselves and their products or services in their marketing strategy and in their communications and offers.

Yes, the products and services are the part of your offer, but they are only part of your offer and are not the total offer. Your offer must be based on customers and the wants and needs of the market, not on your own desire.

What you want, and what your current and potential customers want are not the same. Your marketing strategy needs to be based not on what you want, but what your customers do.

3 Questions That All Customers Ask Themselves When Considering a New Product, Service or Vendor

Whether or not they explicitly state it, every customer will ask themselves three key questions:

1. What’s In It For Me? (WIFM)

Time and again customer research has shown that customers want to know what’s in it for them. Your product may have an altruistic purpose or social value, but first and foremost there must be something in it for the customer or the buyer.

To start with the customer will want to know if this is for them. 

Your offer must therefore include the most important benefits that they will get when they buy your products and services. What problems do you solve for them? In what ways do you make life easier or better for the customer? Do you generate benefits or do you help them to reduce the pain? If they find something valuable or useful in your products and services, they will buy them.

2. What is my investment – i.e. my money, my time, and my effort?

The second question that customers ask themselves is in regard to the investment that they must make to get the WIFM benefits from your products or services. This could be an investment of money, time, or effort, or some combination of the three.

The customer needs to know the benefits they will receive in exchange for their investment.

3. Do I like this company?  

Even if your product or service provides strong benefits for the customer, and they know what their investment is going to be, they still need to answer whether or not they want to buy from you.  

Another way of saying this is, do they know you, do they like you, and do they trust you?

The customer will be asking, “Does this company get me?” When they’re reading your copy, they’re asking questions about whether or not the company gets them. Do they use words that the customer uses? Do they get the customer’s problem? Do they speak the same language? Is the imagery of people they can associate with or they like? Etc.

Think about all three questions. Do some research with your customers and target segments. Find out what’s in it for them, what they perceive their investment to be, and how you can get them to like and trust you. That will give you some of the answers to include in your offer. Rework your messaging and your offer. Afterwards you will:

• Always have a great offer that resonates with your customers, and
• Develop your business in the future through your customer’s perspective.

Looking For Help?

At Fixyr we believe that "one-size-fits-all" marketing is the enemy, that you need strategy before tactics, and that the best path to success is through a results-focused marketing plan built just for you.