The Two Parts of Client Education Necessary For Conversion
Educating a prospective client or customer about how you can help them with their situation is a necessary part of the conversion process.
There are two main parts to this education:
WHAT you do
HOW you are DIFFERENT (or better)
How much do you need to educate your ideal client in either area before they’re ready to buy from you?
The answer is it depends on how commonly understood your work already is.
Let me explain using my favorite example: The Dentist vs. The Doula
Everyone knows what a dentist does. It’s common knowledge requiring little preface. The dentist doesn’t need to talk too much about what they do.
Instead the dentist should focus on educating prospective patients about how they're unique from other dentist options, like maybe they have an unusual spa-like waiting room experience or they specialize in services no one else in their area offers.
On the other hand, a lot of people don’t know what a doula does. Or that there’s different types of doulas. Even with prospective clients who’ve heard of a doula, they still may not understand what exactly a doula does or if they themselves need one.
Therefore between educating on WHAT they do vs. how they’re different, the doula will need to emphasize the former, explaining how what they do solves a problem or bridges a gap in the marketplace. The doula doesn’t need to spend as much time on how they’re different because by nature their work is already different from standard approaches.
Consider your own work and industry.
Is what you do more like a dentist or more like a doula?
How commoditized are services within the industry in which you work?
If you fall in the dentist category, like you’re a website designer, you won’t have to educate people on what you do as much as you will have to demonstrate how you are different.
If you’re more like the doula, you are already different, unique, or uncommon. You’ll spend more time educating on what you do so people understand why they would need your type of service.
I hope this distinction in the type of education inherent part of marketing helps you understand where to put your efforts and what to emphasize in your content and offers.
Here's how we help coaches, consultants and creative pros leading for-profit and nonprofit businesses increase their visibility, income, and impact—in case YOU or someone you know needs:
STRATEGIC BRAND COACHING
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MESSAGING + COPYWRITING
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