A critical marketing mistake a lot of companies make is focusing on “me” and “us” rather than on the customer. This is evident on a lot of websites – at the top of the first page, they typically don’t say “Here are the 7 reasons why XYZ company is the best place for YOU to buy YOUR ABC widgets”; instead, they focus solely on the company name and the company credentials. This misdirected “me” focus then carries over to a lot of their email and sales campaigns: “We do this,” “We do that,” “We are the best at this,” “We have over 20 years of experience doing such and such…” Stop it.
You need to change your focus. In marketing, the “We” focus breaks all the sales rules. Re-read every single document that touches a customer in your business and remove the word “We,” “I,” “Us,” and “Our” and instead put in “You.” So, instead of saying “We have 20 years of experience in xyz,” flip it to say, “You will benefit from our 20 years of experience in xyz by…” or, “Here’s how our 20 years of experience benefits you.” Every customer-facing marketing and sales piece should be focused on them.
ActionCOACH teaches a simple formula to help keep your marketing message on track: F.A.D., Fact, Advantage, Benefit. State the fact, move it to the advantage, and then state the “so that…” or “therefore…” or “what this means to you is…” For example, if a company were promoting a tire, their message could say that it’s a steel-belted radial tire [fact], which is a stronger, sturdier, longer-lasting tire [advantage], so that you get great safety and fantastic value for your money [benefit].
Remember the WII FM principle: people are almost always focused on “What’s in it for me?” You must include the word “You” and you need to go straight to the benefit of your product or service if you want to ensure that your marketing is effective.
