The one question you need to answer to get more sales

Right now, at this very moment, there will be a salesperson expounding to a potential customer what makes their business/product/solution unique.

They may approach this by discussing the business’ USPs…

“Our service is what sets us apart”,

“We’re a one-stop-shop”,

“We’re different because we care”

Or, they may instead choose to focus on what the product can do…

“It’s faster… better… stronger… cheaper… than the next leading brand”.

Both of these approaches are fine, but will likely result in the same response.

“That’s great, thank you, but what’s in it for me?”

What’s in it for me?

One of the most common reasons we see marketing messaging or sales content fail, is because it fails to answer the customer’s first question; “What’s in it for me?”

Every piece of content you create must answer this question.

If you don’t, you probably won’t be satisfying a large section of your audience.

So, how do you do this?

Easy, be benefit-led, and be specific.

Instead of focusing on the features of your offering, hone in on its outcomes. What is the user going to gain by buying your product or working with your business?

The best messaging will always have the customer in mind and will focus on their:

• Problems – what actively impairs their day to day activities?
• Desires – what motivates your audience?
• Challenges – what gets in the way of your audience achieving their desires?

For example, here’s how Apple turn what on the surface are non-descript features into benefits that sell.

Feature	Benefit
9-hour battery life	Keep scrolling to your heart’s delight
All-new dual-camera system	It just got a whole lot harder to take a bad photo
Shoot and edit the highest quality videos	Take your video up a notch. Over a smidge. Or down a hair
New night mode feature	Not enough light? No problem. Shoot high-quality photos in the dark

Each feature on its own would not likely sell a phone.

But, by focusing on the outcomes of the features, and combining them with their audience’s problems, desires and challenges, Apple has created a pitch that is more enticing and will lead to more sales.

Functional, self-expressive & emotional benefits

When creating outcome-led content, there are three levels of value proposition you can leverage:

• Functional: the functional outcome of a product or service.
• Self-expressive: the opportunity for someone to communicate their self-image with the product or service.
• Emotional: the feeling you’ll get from a product or service.

It’ll be your decision to which level of benefit-led messaging you choose when communicating, but our recommendation would be to focus more on the deeper levels of the outcome your solution will have for your customers.

As Joe Chernov puts it, “good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.”

How we can help

We empower ambitious B2B companies to generate growth through creative marketing.

We help brands grow at all stages of the funnel, with the expertise to support your organisation, whether you are looking to:

• Boost your awareness
• Improve demand
• Get more leads
• Generate more sales

Our marketing experts will help you get in front of the right audience, with content that’s designed to leave them wanting more.

Through a considered strategy of identifying your key audiences and understanding what matters to them, we deliver impactful tailored messaging through targeted advertising and owned channels.

• Get seen by the right people
• Grow your brand and product awareness
• Connect and engage with your target customers

Let’s have a chat to discuss how we can help you generate growth through marketing.