3 Easy Ways to Leverage Your Customer's Success Story
Have you ever seen a P90x infomercial?Everyone you see is fit, smiling, and having a good time. It's like they're part of a club that only people with 6 packs are invited to. Then they show you the before and after photos – ugh the before and afters. The befores look like your Uncle Billy and the afters look like a center-fold in GQ.What about Proactive?Same story...from zit face to Your Body is a Wonderland.It get’s you thinking “hmm…I wonder if I could look like that too”.People don’t want more workout DVD’s in their closet or more skincare products huddled around the bathroom sink. What they are buying is the hope of a fit body or clear skin.So if the hope of a "success story" is actually what sells, shouldn't we be using our own customer's success stories in our marketing?...ohhh yea.
How to identify the ideal success picture for your customer
While most people would just say “Oh, of course, I want people to buy my products or services”, we can’t stop there. It’s important to think deeper and more specific. If we stop at a “call-to-action statement” our mentality becomes “my concern and investment in the customer stops at the delivery of the product or service.”This is dangerous because it portrays the benefit for you ends with revenue. But in fact, unless you are a car salesman, to deliver a beautiful product to your customer (and earn $$) is only part of the battle.If we are truly on a journey with our customer, we want them to have a successful experience with our product or service. The specific objective or life change that we help them achieve is ultimately our end result. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is the final value that you want to offer your customer?
- Is there a specific life-change or paradigm shift you want them to reach?
- Are there tangible metrics or results they can consistently realize?
Once you have your success picture, now you can use it to paint that beautiful picture throught your marketing.
Here are 3 ways to weave that success theme into your marketing plan
#1. Using "success images" above the fold on your website
I love using a success picture above the fold on my website to show how what I offer makes my customers lives better. You can tell them the great value you offer, and the awesome results you get, but there’s nothing like showing them a happy customer who has been where they were and now has experienced your product or service.Here is an example of above the fold section from a real estate agent in Ohio.
The image insinuates the family had a great buying experience, they love their home, and it’s a beautiful and safe environment to raise their son.The best imagery is subtle and shows a resolution of an internal conflict. If you can visually show that others had a positive experience with your brand, you are answering their internal doubt that asks “will this really work for me?”The more obvious this is, the better chance they will act.
#2. Verbally painting the success picture in your organization’s one-liner
I like to use this success picture at the end of my “one-liner” because it takes a product or service that might be specialized and difficult to explain in 2 sentences and wraps the entire experience into a positive result that is easily understandable.I’ve seen that closing your one-liner with painting a success picture is highly effective.Think about a pitch for P90X without a success picture...
“Well, ya know, it’s basically hell in a box. You won't be able to breathe. You are going to want to quit 5 minutes in. You’ll be so sore the next day you won't be able to walk. Get it now for 5 payments of $24.99.”
How many people would buy that?But if you begin to paint me a picture of a guy who is healthy, happy, has nice abs and arms, gets the respect of all his colleagues and swoons the ladies, my brain starts to wonder “what if I could look like him”.
#3. Telling stories of former customer's success to create authority
If you’ve read much of my blog you’re probably familiar with the StoryBrand framework. In part 3 of this framework, we talk about how you can position yourself as the guide to help lead the customer (or the main character) towards their desired outcome. We able to position ourselves as the guide in their stories by creating authority that we know how to help them get the results they want.Here are a couple examples of how you can use this well in your marketing collateral.Mike Kim has collected great testimonials from his former client (which happen to be really well-known people in the marketing world) who tell of the success they’ve had with him.
Even if your former customers aren't insanely influential individuals, having these testimonials will give you credibility for people who want to know more about your products or services.Below is a snapshot from a Storybrand “transitional call to action” where they have Michael Hyatt (another well-known person in the marketing world) directly tell the story of what happened in his business after attending the StoryBrand workshop.
Actions Step
So as a result of what we just discussed, here's what I suggest you do this week:
- Define your target customer and determine what success looks like for them after experiencing your product or service
- Add images to the above the fold section of your website that show your happy customer's success
- Create the perfect one-liner to easily steal your audience's attention and insert your success picture in step 3.
- Collect testimonials from happy customer that explain what life is like after experiencing your product or service and use them to create authority.
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