A deep dive on the 3 core dials that attract more leads and more customers

"We tried everything but we're still not getting enough leads - and the ones we do get, we can't turn into customers!"

When I hear this, there's often something broken in at least one of these three core marketing dials:

• Pick the right customers who want what you sell
• Having an offer that is compelling to these buyers
• Words, images and design that resonate with these buyers

Tweak these 3 dials and you'll have more leads, and more of these leads turning into customers:

1. Pick the right customers who want what you sell

It all starts with finding the right buyers. In other words, people who have a current or anticipated problem your product can solve and/or who aspire to particular opportunities that you can fulfill.

The more urgent and burning these are for them, the more likely they'll act to resolve it.

But this alone isn't enough - and here's why.

The ideal customer segments are also those who have both the willingness and ability to pay.

For example, let's say that you help ambitious high school students who want to get into an Ivy League college ace their SAT.

While they have an urgent and burning aspiration to be fulfilled (as well as the willingness to pay) most high school students generally don't have the ability to pay (unless they have a job or freelance income).

Instead, your customer segment is actually their parents. They have a strong desire to help their kids succeed (and perhaps even earn personal bragging rights for sending them to Harvard), are willing to pay for it and - most importantly - have the ability to do so.

Make sure you're properly identifying the actual economic buyers (in this example, the parents) from those who influence the buying decision (their kids).

2. An offer that is compelling to these buyers

What makes a compelling offer?

At its core, it is one where the value (problems solved and/or benefits created) exceed the cost to the extent where it's an easy "yes" for the potential buyer.

A helpful way to think about cost is not the price ($99, $1000, $25,000, etc) the potential buyer has to pay.

Rather, it's the pain of staying stuck or regressing if they don't buy your solution.

Perceived and real value can be enhanced by value levers such as personalization, increased ease and speed of implementation, as well as support options (for eg. training webinars) and risk reversal (eg. money-back guarantee).

Not all value levers will resonate with your prospects. For example, I've never cared about support options for any business software I've bought because I've always been able to figure them out myself.

The more value levers (that are relevant to your prospects) you can combine into your offer, the greater the perceived and real value your offer has for your prospects.

Finally, the greater the disparity between the stacked relevant value and the cost, the more likely your prospect will buy.

3. Words, images and design that resonate with buyers

Finally, there's ad creative - basically the words, images and design of your marketing (whether it's online ads, Tweets, billboards, customer emails, etc).

There's a particular way I define each of these 3 terms:

• Words: visual text (on your website, emails, social media posts) and your video / podcast scripts
• Images: photos, illustrations and the visual portion of your videos

Design: Split into UX and UI.

• UX is how you spatially organize your words and images on the page so that it minimizes any barriers to your prospects taking the action you want them to. For example, putting the Buy button in a place easily seen. Or making your website mobile responsive.
• UI is the visual aesthetics including color scheme, font choice, size of borders, etc. For podcasts and the audio portion (not to be confused with the script) of your videos, this would include soundtrack and sound effects.

The PASTOR framework is a helpful way to use words and images to maximize conversions:

• Problem = State the prospect's burning problem out loud
• Amplify = Twist the knife
• Solution = Tell them how you'll resolve the issue / get them what they want
• Testimonials = Show them proof you can do what you claim
• Offer = What you're selling
• Response = Ask them to buy or to take another desired action (for eg. give you their email in exchange for your lead magnet)

Then take the words and images you've organized in the PASTOR framework and incorporate it into your UI design such that the visual aesthetic and "vibe" match the traits or qualities your buyers identify with (for eg. rugged, dependable, future-focused, creative, etc)

Summary

There are 3 fundamental dials in marketing:

• Picking the right customers who want what you sell
• Having an offer that is compelling to these buyers
• Words, images and design that resonate with these buyers

It's important to identify buyers who need what you offer and can pay for it.

We've seen that a compelling offer isn't just about pricing, but about stacking enough value that outweighs the potential pain of staying put.

We've also looked at how to employ words, images, and design in ways that resonate with prospects, including use of the PASTOR framework.

Focus on these 3 dials and you'll have more leads, and more of these leads turning into customers.