One of the reasons I love what I do is that I’m always learning. In fact, my clients educate and expand my knowledge and experience more than they ever realise.
For the last 15 months, I’ve been working for an incredible change consultancy. They offer large businesses support with a range of change-based internal attitudes, from EDI to handling complaints and effective leadership.
They talk about all of their marketing messaging coming from ‘lived experience’. To be honest, at first, I didn’t really get it.
Surely marketing communications written by a professional will be as good (or better) as those written by the client?
Not necessarily. Speaking from lived experience gives an intangible quality that adds authenticity to any message. It’s why a client testimonial is ten times more powerful for sales conversion than any other tactic.
It’s also why your marketing messages need to be based around lived experience, whether you are a law firm, accountant, consultant or HR specialist.
Do you walk in your clients’ shoes?
You know the saying: don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.
It’s equally applicable to business. How do you ‘sell’ something to someone, a service or product that’s going to solve their problem or meet their need, if you haven’t been there yourself?
Of course, I don’t mean that you can only be a good divorce lawyer if you’ve experience divorce yourself, or you can only provide financial advice to high-net-worth individuals if you are also super-wealthy.
It’s more about learning about your clients’ experiences, learning what drives them (and what concerns them), and being able to demonstrate your genuine understanding (by becoming a thought leader, for example). It has to be genuine, and you can’t fake it.
Think, for example, about how the term ‘influencer’ has become such a dirty word for many people. Most of us are fatigued by the kind of influencer marketing which shows us heavily filtered snapshots of unrealistic lifestyles in an unsubtle attempt to part us from our cash. And we’re also (dare I say) sick of politicians who try to tell us what we should be doing, and even thinking, without any real understanding of our lives, our values or our priorities.
Now apply this to your business. Think about how you respond to those kinds of patronising, tone-deaf and (sometimes) downright insulting messages, and consider how your clients might respond to your communications.
Understanding your audience
One of the most valuable aspects of lived experience is the deep understanding of your audience it brings. First-hand knowledge allows you to craft messages that resonate.
This is where client testimonials and market research comes in.
I’ve talked before about developing customer personas. This is a really valuable exercise which helps you to get inside your clients’ or customers’ heads and understand what is driving their buying decisions.
Returning to the example of a Family Law solicitor – let’s say, for example, you want to target women who are seeking advice on divorce.
What is the problem? Well, you could say that facing divorce is enough of a problem in itself. But what’s really keeping your potential client awake at night?
Is it financial concerns – maybe she’s worried about being able to afford to keep a roof over her children’s heads? Or perhaps she brought a large amount of pre-marital assets into the marriage, and is worried about how they’ll be divided if she divorces.
Maybe she wants to understand the different ways that a split can be handled amicably without ending up in court. Or perhaps she is just completely unfamiliar with how the legal system works, and wants someone who can explain it to her in plain English without making her feel small.
There could be any number of scenarios.
The point is that, even if you have never been in her situation, to craft authentic marketing messages which demonstrate how well you understand her concerns, you need to be able to put yourself in her shoes.
How can you use lived experience in marketing?
One of the first things you can do is to get more proactive with seeking feedback, testimonials and reviews from your clients.
There are online review platforms appropriate to virtually every industry these days. Google reviews are widely used, but, depending on your sector, VouchedFor may also be useful.
Building up a portfolio of video testimonials to keep on your YourTube channel, or add to your website is increasingly valuable (for sensitive, personal issues like divorce, your client may prefer to remain anonymous, of course). Read my guide to asking for testimonials here.
If you’d value some tailored advice on how to understand your audience better, how to get more testimonials to add to your lived experience messaging, and how to craft marketing communications that resonate, get in touch.
Call us on 01233 720379 or book an appointment here to have a discussion.
At The Marketing Associates, we specialise in strategic freelance marketing support for professional service practices, providing excellent quality advice on your marketing strategy to develop and grow your business on a retained basis.