The Biggest Marketing Mistake Small Businesses Make (and 3 Steps to Avoid it)
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been at a dinner party, stuck in conversation with that one guest who won’t stop talking about themselves? That person who believes they are the most interesting human in the room. They grace you with story after story of their remarkable accomplishments. They speak confidently of their beauty, financial success, academic achievements, encounters with celebrity. Naturally you must be impressed, right?
We’ve all met that person. The classic narcissist. They are convinced that since they find themselves interesting, everyone else must too. Most of us are balanced enough to recognize that conversations are two way streets. We know how to build authentic connections over shared experiences, challenges, and achievements that matter on both ends of the conversation. That connection is where real relationships are born.
And yet in business, we forget this simple principle of connection. As business owners, we’re so excited about our products and services that we drone on and on about how great they are. We list the incredible features, repeat the heroic origin stories, and brag about our awards. Our products are top of the line, we shout. Our service is incomparable, we tout. Surely if we just repeat it often enough, word will get out. But… we get no engagement. No likes. No follows. No prospects. No customers. No one cares. And as a matter of fact, it kind of feels like everyone at the party is avoiding us.
No one like’s narcissistic people, so why allow ourselves to run narcissistic businesses? Narcissistic marketing is THE SINGLE biggest marketing mistake any business can make. It jeopardizes short-term revenue and long-term growth. It can and will break the most successful business model.
Marketing is not about YOU, it’s about THEM. The only way to build authentic relationships, engage prospects, and grow your business is to focus on your customer. This has to go beyond great service and extend to every aspect of your business marketing. Every word uttered about your products and services must focus on the customer and address the classic “so what?” question.
While narcissistic marketing is an easy trap to fall into, it’s just as easy to flip on its head. How do you speak about your business in a customer-centric way? Shift your focus, perspective, and message by answering three questions:
WHO IS YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER? Get to know who you’re speaking to. Find out who else is at the party get into as much detail as possible. Are you speaking to men or women? How old are they? Where do they live? Do they have children? Do they have aging parents? What keeps them up at night? What are their values? Do they like to travel? Read books? Look beautiful? Spend money? Save money? Feel fancy? Feel frugal? Write all this down in as much detail as possible and use it as a framework for all your marketing. Every single piece of digital marketing or print collateral should consider the answer to every single one of these questions. And while it sounds like a lot, you’ll find it all comes into place pretty naturally over time. Kind of like those authentic relationships you’ve built with the truly interesting people at the party.
WHAT ARE THEIR PAIN POINTS? Diagnose your ideal customer’s pain points. If you understand their specific challenges, you can more easily tell them how you solve it. For example, a restaurant’s ideal customer is obviously struggling with hunger… but any restaurant can address that. A restaurant that stands out will be able to solve a more precise pain point. Are your customers hungry for Italian, Indian, American, or Japanese food? Are they looking for an affordable meal or a luxurious dining experience? Do they want to pick something up down the block, or are they willing to drive to the next town over? Are they in a rush to eat now, or searching for a Friday night date spot? The more specific you can get on your customer’s “pain points” the more precisely you can align yourself with their needs and forge an authentic connection.
HOW DOES MY PRODUCT OR SERVICE SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM? Tell your ideal customer how your product or service will resolve their problem. Feel free to brag about your products and services, but only in so far as they serve your customer. It is essential to contextualize how your solution address their unique situation, and how it does so better than the competition. Let’s say you’re marketing a set of affordable noise cancelling headphones to urban white collar employees working remotely. Instead of speaking about the technical quality of the acoustics, tell them about the productive day of zoom meetings they’ll have (undisturbed by the jack hammer down the road, or the newly realized music producer downstairs). Want to market the same product to a new stay-at-home mom? Paint the picture of a tranquil bubble bath at the end of a long day while her husband feeds the kids dinner. How about scaling up and selling a whole set of these headphones to a landscaping business? Let the business owner how his team can get all their work done efficiently while protecting their hearing. Presto, you’ve solved the “so what” problem and created a powerful marketing campaign that will resonate with your audience and translate into sales!
No one likes narcissistic people or businesses. Nurture your customer engagement. Get to know your audience, their challenges, and how you can solve them. By getting as detailed as possible, you can create impactful messages and campaigns that resonate, driving revenue and long term success.
