Beyond Income Claims: How to Inspire and Attract Happy Customers
In the world of online teaching and coaching, the way we present our products can make all the difference.
Researching how to market, you’ll come across a lot of advice designed for people who sell to business owners, and claims like “I made $50,000 in five days. Here's how you can too.”
These income claims and promises are eye-catching, but could you do a better job of building happy connections with your customers?
Let’s try something else! Focus on the deeper benefits and emotional connections you offer. This can make your offers shine.
Find the Feel Good Factor in Your Marketing
Even if your offers don’t promise a financial return on investment, customers will still want to feel like they are getting a result. They still worked for the money they’re giving you, and the eternal question is still “What’s in it for me?”.
So now let’s figure out the answers! In this blog post, I’ll give you some ideas about what your customers are searching for.
Fun and Inspiration
There are so many benefits that cannot be measured in numbers, and do your customers a world of good. Let's start with fun and inspiration. Fun can prevent burnout, bring people together, provide a relaxing outlet, and improve health outcomes. That’s pretty convincing!
And there are tangible results for your customers too. Fun and inspiration help them to learn better, grow beyond their limits, and progress in their career.
And fun comes in many ways when you’re talking about your offers.
I run a membership with my friend Josh called AI Language Club, and the tagline is ‘language learning like never before’. We are presenting novelty and inspiration.
Theme Theme parks like Disneyland allow people to escape into a world filled with wonder. They're selling plenty of tickets using the power of fun and inspiration.
Business-focused offers can centre inspiration and fun too, for example the Vibrant Business Mastermind which includes dedicated time and attention for creative coaching.
Support and Accountability
If your customer is trying to achieve something that is difficult but will make their life better, you are here to help! For example, they may want a coach or group to help them with fitness goals, learning a language, learning how to cook better.
Even a small product like a budget spreadsheet or a step counter can play a part in this journey. And if there’s a community element included in the offer, it brings the positive aspects of community and social support too.
A Confidence Boost
There are so many ways an offer can boost your customer’s self-esteem and make them feel ready to take on the world.
Small, simple things like a lipstick imply luxury, valuing yourself, and looking your best.
Tech tutorials can help people feel ready to tackle a big task and achieve major results in their life.
High-value coaching services can do the same for your clients, helping them feel heard and validated in their ideas and strategies.
Love and Admiration
Everyone loves to get positive feedback from other people, so you can use this angle to tell the story of how your offer can help your customer get there. And this feel good factor shows up in every scenario:
Family therapists talk about how their services create loving relationships.
Social media apps encourage users to post more content by notifying them every time someone comments or clicks the like button.
Kitchen shops and interiors magazines show people how they can create a home life that makes people admire their home.
Achieving Dreams and Goals
Think about who your customers are and who they want to become in future. Can your product can help someone nail a negotiation, set up their dream wedding or big birthday, or teach them how to master a skill they’ve always wanted to learn?
Then make sure you tell them about this, and how achieving those goals can change their life!
The Power of Identity
Many people buy products that reflect their values and identity, so it helps to get a feel for how your ideal customers see themselves. For example, I am a fan of the clothing company wool&. Their products champion simplicity and sustainability, and the brand’s “100 day dress challenge” (wear the same dress for 100 days) matches that message. It appeals to customers who want to feel like clothes are not the most important thing in their life, and who care about feeling resourceful.
Why Do Swifties Buy?
When a Taylor Swift fan buys a t-shirt at the Eras tour, it’s about a lot more than just covering themselves with some cotton. The right name and logo signal membership in a group of Swift fans who love this musical icon and her intelligent songs and melodies.
Feel Good Toilet Paper
And identity in sales even shows up when you choose everyday items. Think about how ethical, stylish toilet paper from companies like Who Gives a Crap can signal a person's values and style. Their tagline? “Feel good toilet paper”.
Try This in Your Marketing
If you’ve been looking for new inspiration and ideas for talking about your offers, make sure you try one of the feel good factors above!
In your research, you can ask customers about their goals and dreams to find out more about them, and explain how your offer helps with their big vision. If your product helps them earn more money, talk about what might be possible with that extra cash in the bank account.
Lean into the confidence-boosting effects of what you have to offer. Look through testimonials and scan for words that describe how customers felt after using their purchase.
When you write sales emails or social media posts, think up stories that feature your offer! Tell your customers how every feature of what you offer contributes to making their life better. How does your offer bring the fun factor, confidence boost, accountability kick, or other thing they need?
How can your offer help a customer be loved or admired? What’s the club they’ll belong to when they successfully use what you are offering? Journal on these topics and freely write a few stories about the results you can create, then play with sharing that story in an email, on a blog, or sales page.
Can you talk about how your product supports them with challenging goals? Then talk about how their life might look and feel once they achieve the big goal, and share stories of other inspiring people who were able to make it happen.
With all these great ideas, return on investment becomes clear for anything you can buy and sell.
How Can You Inspire a Customer?
Most customers will be interested in your offers and content if you can help them reflect on their own life. How does your business change their world? Can you show them that you understand what their problems feel like?
Balance that authority you have as a thought leader with signalling that you’re one of the gang. Here are some questions that can help you:
Where does my customer want to belong?
What's the group that they're signalling membership of when they buy something from me?
What's the emotion behind what they would buy, or why they would buy, and how can I communicate in my copy of my sales pages, in my emails, that I get where they are?
How Do You Make Your Customers Happier?
The relationship with your customer starts long before they first buy from you, so consider building your authority by and sharing interesting stories and content.
Design your products and offers with the customer in mind. Use feedback, surveys, and social media posts where they discuss what they want to see and experience.
Once they look at your offers, make sure that you keep your promises and build in good customer support, so they can contact you for answers and they won’t feel left out in the rain.
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