We’re all in the business of problem solving. But whose problems are you trying to solve? There’s an old saying that goes something like this:

“You can please all of the people some of the time,
and some of the people all the time,
but you cannot please all the people all the time.”

This goes for nearly every aspect of our lives!

And when it comes to marketing and copywriting, it’s practically the unwritten law of the universe…

You see, there are always going to be naysayers out there. Someone is going to see your ad or read your blog (or just glance over it) and write it off as junk.

Sometimes, these people take the time to leave nasty comments or send scathing emails – this is an unfortunate part of the natural order.

Simply put, your marketing and your message isn’t going to be for everyone…

And as soon as you embrace that, the stronger your material will be.

This may seem like a bad thing… that your message will never be for everyone, but it’s quite the opposite!

The more focused your content, the more conversions it will bring.

Because no single message is for everyone, this means that there are specific messages that will have tremendous impact on certain people.

And this is how you should be creating your marketing content:

by selecting who you want to reach, and crafting your message especially for them!

For example, one of our clients is in the financial education business.  While most people believe their target market simply wants to get rich (and that’s partially true) – depending on their product – their biggest concern might be to supplement their income so they don’t have to get a second job, to make enough money to retire comfortably and maintain the same lifestyle, or to just to be able to spend more time with their family.

If you’re like most of his competitors and approach the business with “buy this and make a gazillion dollars overnight!” – you’d be unappealing to this segment of the population because you aren’t addressing their specific problem.

Proctor and Gamble figured this out long ago.  Just look at their line of laundry detergents – you’ve got:  Tide Pods, Tide with Acti-Lift, Tide Vivid White & Bright, Tide Plus Febreeze Sport, Tide Plus Febreeze, Tide Free, Tide plus Downy, Tide HE with Acti-Lift, Tide Coldwater, Tide Boost Vivid White & Bright Pacs, Tide to Go Stain Eraser, Tide Boost Original Duo Pacs … and dozens of other Tide products meeting very specific needs of their consumer.

Folks, this is laundry detergent we’re talking about … and even with such a product so simple, P&G understood that if they want to dominate the market – they need to speak to the specific needs of their customer base!

The more directly you can address the specific needs, the specific problem that your prospect is facing, the more likely you will be viewed as the solution.

This means you should be addressing the customers you want, and no one else. If someone other than your target customer ignores your message, or worse, openly criticizes it, who cares!? It’s not for them anyway.

You want to be a solution to a problem – the one source for fulfilling a specific need – and anything outside of positioning yourself in that role is inconsequential. It does not matter if people uninterested in your products/services don’t like your marketing. It doesn’t matter one bit.

What matters is knowing who you’re after, and creating a message that speaks directly to them…

In your corner,

Charlie

PS  Some of the best marketing puts a potential customer’s problem into better words than they could have described themselves! And once you accomplish this – your customer will automatically assume YOU have the solution to their problem.

More tips like these and others for becoming the obvious choice for your market, can be found here.