Content Marketing
Education:
Marketing is the driver of business growth and when put into action, it’s about educating your potential and existing clients about the problems you can help them solve.
So the question I want you to ask yourself is “How can I add more value to my clients?”.
In the case with many cafés/restaurants (recently), they’ve shifted their model to online ordering and contactless delivery.
When it comes to professional service firms, they’ve moved to delivering their service via video call.
Health and fitness providers are broadcasting their classes online, to help their clients learn how to move from inside their own home.
We live in an age where delivering services using online platforms like e-commerce websites and video conferencing apps is generally straightforward (except for the odd technology glitch or teething problem!).
But what opportunities do these online platforms present to businesses who are wanting to grow?
I want you to think about the shift you can make from being known for the product/services you provide, to being known for the problems that you solve.
What’s the difference?
If you’re known for a product/service, when circumstances in the market change (and they invariably do) and the needs of your clients change, you’re in danger of being viewed as a commodity that’s replaceable by an alternative provider (your competition).
In my practice, I focus on helping business leaders become unstuck. I help remove them from the hamster wheel and teach them how to grow. I deliver my services through coaching and training.
It’s not about the coaching and it’s not about the training. They are just simply the methods of delivery that work best with my clients to help solve their problems.
Why is this important?
Because if you truly care more than your competition does and if you want to position yourself ahead of your competition, then you’ll want to demonstrate this level of care to your prospects/clients and there are technology platforms that will help you communicate your message.
How do you make that change?
Referring back to the original question I posed “How can I add more value to my clients?”. I mentioned examples of how businesses have changed the modes of delivering their products or services (e.g. online ordering systems, video calls, video lessons...).
However, this time I want you to apply the original question to a wider lens. Instead of just thinking about how you deliver your products or services, I want you to apply the question to your entire customer journey.
The customer journey is the step-by-step sequence that someone takes from being a stranger to your business (unaware of you), through to becoming a client and then hopefully an advocate of your business. The mapping of a customer journey is tailored for each individual business, but here’s an example of a customer journey below:
[Unaware of you > Aware of you > Interested in you > Considering you > Becoming a Client > Becoming an Advocate]
So when it comes to actually delivering the products/services, this is done at the “Becoming a Client” stage and beyond.
But if you add value to your target audience, across the entire customer journey, by educating them on how to solve their problems, you will significantly accelerate the attraction of new prospects and the conversion of prospects into new clients.
The following example puts things into perspective, about adding value to a prospect before they become a client.
I read a post from an Accountant on LinkedIn the other day and it was generating plenty of feedback. It really sums up the concepts that I coach my clients on how to adopt. She runs a practice in the UK and had been approached by multiple new potential clients who were stressed, frustrated and felt left in the dark by their existing Accountant, who had failed to get in touch (or return calls!) since the pandemic began. These prospects got in touch with her, because she had made a point of providing more educational value and she was using technology like LinkedIn, Email and Blogs to help educate her target market on how to deal with the relevant changes.
Because she cares more and because she demonstrated that she cares more, she attracted more of the types of clients who appreciate that and more of the types of people she prefers working with.
So I’ll leave you with this question, across your entire customer journey - how can you add more value to your clients?
Key action points:
Keep asking yourself, how do I add more value to my clients, both before and after they actually come aboard as a client.
Demonstrate you care by educating your target audience on how to solve their key problems.
Use technology to help deliver this education – remember nearly 75% of Australian’s are on Facebook, close to 35% on LinkedIn and every consumer has an email address.
Gated vs Ungated Content:
When should you restrict access to your marketing content, behind a lead-generating opt-in form?
Play the video below to find out…