Six tips to make your startup marketing more persuasive

With customers bombarded with so many brands and advertisements each day it’s your job to make your marketing messages more persuasive and relevant to break through the noise.

But where do you start? Here are six tips to help you make your marketing messages more persuasive.

1. Know what your customers are buying

When your customers choose to buy from you they are buying more than a product or service. They are buying the solution to their problem, the answer to their question, the feeling they’ve been missing or the convenience they’ve been wanting.

When you uncover what your customers really want you capture not only the attention of your customer but their heart as well.

2. Speak with authority

Every purchase requires your customer to trust you.  The higher the purchase price, the more trust your customer needs to have in you.

To build trust, you need to speak with authority. Present yourself as the expert, share your knowledge, draw on your experiences, and tell stories about the value you have provided. Own your skills and expertise. Be confident in your abilities and bold in your belief that you can deliver. Confidence makes you more persuasive.

3. Leverage social proof

People follow people. People also want to be part of something – a movement, cause, group or community.  Social proof helps you to build this.

When you share the experiences others have had with your products and services, you ease the concerns and minimise the risks for your customers. But more importantly you create commonality among your customers and that can be built into a sense of community.

4. Treat every customer as ‘the one’

Do the unexpected. Go above and beyond. Be committed to doing the most you can do in your business. The more you can make your customers feel like they are the only one you are concerned about and the only one you are speaking to, the more powerful your message becomes.

5. Keep it simple

Our customers crave convenience yet many of us have a tendency to overcomplicate our sales process. We give too many choices and price points, include too many steps and clicks and request too many details.

Don’t ask for every contact detail up front, make your website easy to navigate, ensure the next step is clear, and your calls to action are compelling and easy to follow.

6. Create urgency

We are a competitive bunch. If we think we are going to miss out on something, we act faster.  So once you have established your value, create urgency through special edition products or services, time-limited opportunities or bonuses open to limited people.

Amanda Jesnoeswki is a copywriter, marketing strategist, publicist and owner of Velocity Media.