Business is about creating products and or services to resolve problems, I always rant on about this but I am adamant that it all starts with a problem. Value is created when the problem is resolved so it’s all about identifying and resolving problems.
So if you want marketing to work the key is being able to understand your markets problems and to do so you need to do many things but the most important for me is to empathize. Put yourself in their situation, walk a mile in their shoes. Too many companies are autistic in this sense, incapable of connecting emotionally with the outside world and understanding the pain that exist and as such the opportunity to create new products and services to take that pain away.
Know the problem, create the product, communicate the value
Marketing goes in both directions, first you must interact with your market to identify the problems that exist, and then create the product that will resolve them, and finally communicate the product to the market place. Now if you have done your job well in the first phase, empathizing and understanding the pain that exists in the market you will have very little difficulty in communicating the benefits of your product to the market place.
Wooa, this company really gets me!
Companies that have this focus stand out as there messaging is simple, they understand the problem, they understand their market so they know exactly what to say and WHO they are say it to and when to say it. In today’s new reality of unlimited expectations companies need to be connected more than ever with their customers and not just at a superficial level, they need to be able to truly empathize with them. The success stories of today’s and tomorrows companies will trigger customers conversation along the lines of ”that company really gets me”.
I truely believe that empathy is the key and as time goes experience and peers in the industry validate that point of view.
Put it to the test
What have you done recently to empathize with your customers? Or what has a company done recently to empathize with you? Can you give some good examples of bad examples of this?
