Every great ad is built on a solid marketing foundation.

– Steve Pieroway

Let’s get right to the truth: great advertising is built on a solid marketing strategy. And every marketing strategy is built off of a solid business strategy. Marketing for service professionals is no different.

Sounds easy. But I guarantee you it’s not. 

You want to start creating marketing that stands out? 

Start by nailing down your marketing strategy: 

1. Who you’re talking to (preferred client);
2. Why they’re buying (what are the triggers or reasons they’re searching for a – whatever industry you’re in);
3. Who they are looking at (competitive alternatives), and;
4. Why they would choose you (your distinctive offer or USP).

Know Your Preferred Client (Forget Ideal)

Most marketers like to call this “ideal client” but after years of marketing, I like preferred because it’s less limiting.

The only ‘ideal’ client is a made up one. No one in real life is perfect, or ideal. So don’t fool yourself into thinking marketing can find them for you. Because no matter how much research you do, there will always be nuances. 

Preferred gives you direction without being so narrow as to eliminate potential clients. You can talk about age range (generation), life stage, education, career. 

Most importantly, however, is to look at the behavioural conditions surrounding the use of your service:

• How do people feel about your profession? 
• How do they seek out alternative providers? 
• What cues do they use to imply expertise, credibility, trustworthiness?
• What truths, or rather perceived truths, exist about your service. 

Knowing who you’re talking to is key to building a good ad.

Why They Are Buying (Pain points and Triggers)

Think about what causes people to seek out someone like you (whatever your professional service is). Let’s take an insurance broker as an example. 

Here are possible reasons why someone seeks a broker:

• New to buying insurance:
  • Recently started a business and need insurance;
  • Recently bought a house and need insurance;
  • Bought a car for the first time and, yes, need insurance;
• Insured with a secondary competitor:
  • Have been insured with a direct writer, like a TD or Sonnet, and have had poor claims experiences;
• With a direct competitor (another insurance broker):
  • Frustrated with the lack of communication from your existing broker;
  • Frustrated with the lack of renewal options each year;
  • Believe your account is not being proactively managed;
  • Dissatisfied with a claims experience as the broker didn’t know much;
  • Unhappy with the premium increases being applied over the last couple of years.

Nail down the situation with either pain points or triggers, then dig deep to get to the root of how this makes the Preferred Client feel. 

It’s the feelings we’re after here. Get to the feels, and you’ll get to the truth. This is perhaps one of the key points when marketing for service professionals.

Who Are Your Competitors

If you read my earlier blog post, Building a Professional Services Ad – Analyze the Competition then you’ve already done a competitive analysis. So I’m not going to repeat myself. 

If you haven’t read it, finish this post and then go back and read it. 

Before moving on, I’ll say this: the most important thing you can do when looking at the competition is to think about how you will present a distinctive option.

Because if you say the same things as everyone else, you’re not marketing.

Why you?

What is going to compel someone to choose you? 

And to help you get to the answer more quickly, rule out referrals. Reflect on those people or businesses who become clients but were not referred. 

Did they choose you because:

• You were at the top of their google search;
• They like your “against-the-grain” approach;
• Your business is located quite close to where they live;
• They saw your billboard;
• They google experts, found you, and read some of your content;
• They liked the idea of working with someone smaller, believing they’d get more personalized service;
• They liked your “service guarantee”;
• They liked your overall approach.

Whatever it is, do your best to find out.

And here’s the thing. Finding your “distinctive thing” will feel frustrating. Believe me. If it doesn’t feel frustrating, you probably aren’t going deep enough.

But at some point, you’ll land on your distinctiveness. Then it’s a matter of packaging it up and putting it out in the world.

And that’s where the creative process comes in.

To recap, know:

1. Your preferred client;
2. Their triggers and/or pain points;
3. What your competition is saying;
4. What distinctive approach makes you the obvious choice.

Once this is nailed down, you can start to work on your creative strategy (which will be the focus of the next post).