In this article, we’re going to be looking at creating highly targeted marketing for customers over the age of 50.
And, I’m going to be honest. The stuff we’re moving into now … this is where the work really begins. And, this is the place where you have to decide :
Do you want to just stay where you are or do you really want to grow your revenue?
This is where I’m going to switch from talking to any business owner, to the ones that are already making a good living, but you want to scale.
People who are tired of staying stuck. Maybe you want to grow from $300k to $500k. Maybe you want to go from $500k to $1 million or so in business next year. This is where that starts.
You have to focus on these details before you can begin growing. You’ll understand what I mean in just a few moments.
How you’re not aligning with older customers
Previously, I talked about the #1 problem business owners are facing serving customers over age 50. Today, we’re going to look at the three scenarios I showed you and dig a little deeper into each one.
To recap, here are the three scenarios I gave as to why you are not aligning with the right customers for your business.
- What you say and what they need to hear are different.
- How you’re selling is reaching non-buyers.
- You’re not reaching the people who don’t know they should buy from you.
Every one of these issues (and others you may be experiencing) all stem from the same things.
- Your message is unclear.
- It is not tailored to your best customer.
- It is not being delivered enough over time.
Before we get into this deeper, it is important for you to understand that in order for you to have a clear message, you have to know:
- Who your best customer is.
- What problems they have that you can solve for them.
- The results you can help them achieve.
- What they will experience doing business with you.
- Common objections to purchasing what you sell.
What you’re missing
These are critical components to being able to convey relevance and value, as well as inspire trust and confidence in potential customers. Why? Because it shows them that:
- You know who they are.
- You are talking to them.
- Your product or service can help them avoid a specific pain they have.
When you are talking to or marketing to your best customer, what do you think your message should be? What you do or sell? Why they need it? Other things?
Because, when you ARE talking to the right customer, you want to make sure your message is perfectly clear. I advise people to evaluate their messages that customers see, which can include:
- Statements about the results and benefits.
- Statements about desires.
- Questions (about needs or desires)
- Stories showing people like your best customer.
- Statements that overcome objections. (Which can include your customer’s results, desires or facts.)
There are other methods you can use, but these are some of the most effective. And, so you can really learn this, I’m going to give you a few examples from work I’ve done for my customers.
Alignment examples
The first one if from an OT providing knee and hip replacement recovery care for older patients. Here is the opening for her brochure.
“Get back to a your life faster after knee or hip replacement surgery.
Are you an active person age 50-75 planning (or recently had) hip or knee replacement surgery?
Would you like to reduce your recovery time and get back to your life more quickly?
If you’re like most people, you do. That, and you want to make sure you recover properly and reduce your risk of injury later. “
Do you see how in the opening she partially defines the person she is talking to (including inferring private pay where she talks about planning surgery). This is one way to begin having people to qualify themselves, which makes the sales process easier later. Then, we hit on the wants/needs … reducing recovery time and reducing risk of future injury.
Here’s another example. This is from a client that has a remodeling company.
“You’ve lived in your home for decades…you fell in love with your neighborhood, made lifelong friends, hosted parties and watched the kids grow to adults. You can’t imagine living anywhere but here.
Yet, you’re smart enough to know your home may not be what it needs to be for you now or in the future. What you really want to know is what you 12
Maybe you’re already helping someone; say a spouse, family member or a friend. It can take a lot out of you, can’t it? You worry about their safety and sometimes you have trouble helping them do the things they need to do. Whether it’s trouble getting into the house, or being able to get to everything easily inside your home…things like showering, cooking, laundry or others… You really wish it could be a little bit easier.
We understand how you feel. We’ve experienced these same feelings helping our own family members, and we’ve helped many customers over the years who felt the same way you do now.”
They are using this to target people who have very specific thoughts and needs. Doesn’t that feel different than “We can make your house look pretty?” or “Get the kitchen you’ve always wanted.”
Three alignment scenarios
Now, to the scenarios I talked about earlier.
If you think about those two scenarios below in the context of what you just learned, you can see how following what I showed you would be better than what you’re probably doing now, right? It makes sense to be specific and use the right words.
What you say and what they need to hear are different
As far as there being a difference between what you say and what they hear … You should be talking about their problems or what they want, using questions and telling stories to get them to think, and using statements to show them you know who they are and what their lives are like.
In other words, you are showing them you are relevant.
There’s another thing you’re doing … you’re educating them, too. Because, as they read through that page on your website or brochure, or they listen to you talk, you are leaving breadcrumbs … statements about “here’s the solution” or “we can help you with that by doing X” and the like.
How you’re selling is not reaching buyers
In the case of attracting the wrong customer, in almost every case I’ve ever experienced with business owners, if you have people show up who won’t buy, it’s because you’re unclear in your message.
Let’s say you’re an accessible Remodeler and your ideal customer is over 55, owns a home, has plenty of savings and has a specific physical need. If the people who show up are are over 55, have a specific need, owns a home BUT they don’t have savings to invest in a home remodel, you’re attracting the wrong customer.
To change that, you have to fix your message.
So, how do you do that? Well, you look for opportunities in marketing or conversations to talk about the things that are:
- Important to people with lots of savings.
- Or, something they will identify with.
As an example, let’s say Jim the accessible Remodeler has a brochure. In it he states,”We provide high-quality remodeling at reasonable costs.” That sounds nice, right? That is appealing to most people.
But, what if he wanted it to be specific to people that had large savings accounts? These would be folks that, by and large, have committed themselves to saving money. You could use phrases like:
“… to help to help protect the investment you’ve made in your home.”
“By doing X, you are reducing the amount you will spend on maintenance by 20% every year. That could equal $26,000.00 or more of savings in your future.”
“By working with our care team, you will be able to recover nearly 3 weeks faster, while reducing the risk of future injuries. Which, could save you $10,000.00 or more in rehab costs.”
Of course, there are other much stronger and effective ways you can use through telling the right story along their journey, which is way more than we can get into today.
Reaching the people who don’t know they should buy from you
And, for the final example … where you’re not reaching the people who don’t know they should buy from you… That problem is two-fold.
One, with the message you are crafting, which is fixed by what we just discussed.
Then, two it’s about being able to access people. The right people, of course. Your brand has to be in front of them right where they are.
That could mean more effort doing interviews, being on podcast or radio shows or getting other media coverage. You can also reach them through content marketing online, leveraging your website, Facebook or other local/national websites to connect with these consumers. Or, by getting more involved with other business/organizations in your community, or community projects.
The point is, if you want to reach other people than you’re reaching now, you need to get in front of more people (targeted people), but keep the message on-target.
That’s pretty exciting stuff, right? Can you see how having an incredibly focused message helps prepare you to grow?
This is where you get on the path to lead generation that doesn’t eat up all your time, and nickel and dime you and reaches the customers that are right for your company.
This is the first step to creating a lead generation machine.
YOUR NEXT STEP …
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