Building Awareness
Last week we looked at TAM, SOM, SAM and defined WHO might buy what we’re selling using buyer personas and market testing. A good start. However, without a compelling and well thought through proposition, we might as well all go home. Building a differentiated service or product strategy will be critical to generating sales. If you’re struggling with where to start, have a chat with Pete Byre @ digital whiskey or Jamie Hockin, both of whom are big fish in this space.
Let’s take the plunge into the top of the sales funnel and the AWARENESS stage. This week we’re diving into HOW to reel those buyers in using the right bait and hooks. Can anyone else smell something fishy? Enjoy.
#1. Net or rod?
There are a plethora of channels available to you when building market awareness for your offering. Which channel(s) you use depends on what you are trying to sell and which part of your Service Obtainable Market (SOM) you’re trying to attract. We find it useful to break your channel selection into three:
- Owned Channels: Your website, blog, social media profiles, and email newsletters are your trusty, well used nets. They offer consistent exposure to your existing audience and help position your brand as a leader.
- Earned Channels: PR, guest articles and media mentions serve as fishing rods that help you reach a broader audience, likely to be outside of your current CRM. Your reputation hooks new prospects.
- Paid Channels: Paid ads, sponsorships, and promoted posts cast a wider net over your ideal audience, ensuring your brand gets noticed by prospects you haven’t yet reached.
Use a mix of channels to diversify your approach. For instance, leverage owned channels for consistent messaging with existing clients, earned channels to establish credibility with new targets, and paid channels to broaden your reach outside of your CRM system.
#2. Bait the hook
Compelling content delivered through the right channels will attract many, many fish. Some tried and tested bait options to consider when you’re building out your content:
- Take a view: offer your perspective on market events, landmark deals, regulatory changes, or court decisions relevant to your clients’ sectors. Don’t just summarize (that’s what everyone else will do) – take a stance and be prepared to defend it.
- Keep It Short & Speedy (KISS): hook your reader within 15 seconds with punchy, digestible insights. Leave the weightier articles for journals, and stay focused on practical takeaways for your audience.
- Repeat & Reuse: maximise your reach by tailoring it for multiple platforms. Publish an impact statement on LinkedIn, share a personal message via email, and pitch your position to the media. Extract every single piece of value out of the content you created.
Align your bait with your channels. For existing clients, email content directly with personalised impact notes. For new clients, use ads and LinkedIn posts to cast a wider net or fish in a different spot.
#3. Hook the Catch
A hook without bait will catch no fish, and bait without a hook won’t convert leads into clients. Make sure your Calls To Action (CTAs) are visible, relevant, and irresistible:
- Single Hook: focus on one clear CTA per piece of content – a downloadable guide, a sign-up form, or a free consultation offer.
- Multiple Hooks: for deeper content like webinars or reports, provide multiple hooks, like scheduling a call, subscribing to a newsletter, or joining a networking event.
- Follow-Up Hook: send a quick follow-up email after they bite (if you take more than 24hrs to respond – forget it), thanking them and offering additional resources. Reel them in with value-added calls to action that build curiosity and trust. Follow up with a mix of email, social media, and phone calls to ensure your message lands. Build a “follow-up bank” of templated emails for common scenarios. Quick Parts in Microsoft Word can help make your follow-up faster and more efficient.
Ready to fish?
Get out there and cast your net or rod over your brand-building channels, bait the hook with compelling content, and reel them in with irresistible CTAs. Remember, your potential market is vast, so make sure your net is strong and your bait is tempting.
