Prospective clients are often unaware of the education, experience, and licensing that are required of professional service providers. This, too, can lead to the “but I can do that myself” syndrome, failure to see the value in the service, and resentment about the fees charged.
All digital marketing challenges can be addressed
Every challenge, though, can be USA Email List minimized and even overcome with good digital marketing. Here’s how:
Data is your new best friend
Digital tools can measure who’s coming to your site, what they look at, what people are searching for online, where your best client prospects are located geographically, and even what kind of device they use to access the internet. This hard data, combined with reasonable inferences, can give you a very specific, and qualified, audience to market to. This saves you the time and expense of marketing to people who are not likely to be good clients, and, for regulated industries, it can also evidence your efforts to follow the applicable rules about advertising. Data will tell you who is in the market for your services and the best ways to reach those people.
Tell people what you do
Professional service providers tend to think what they do is obvious, because they live it day in and out. I’ve also heard professionals protest marketing because “if I have to explain what I do then that person won’t be a good client.” Would that every prospective client innately knew the value of your services, but the reality is that they don’t. Use your website and landing pages to spell out what you do, how the client will benefit, why you’re qualified, and how you’re different from other providers in your industry.
Tell people who you are
You’re selling people the experience of working with you. It’s important that their expectations of what that will be like are both informed and realistic. The best way to set these expectations in advance is through your marketing. Include a short bio and a picture on your website. Use the design and content of your marketing to subtly tell people about your working style. For example, if you aren’t a people person and would prefer to accomplish the job with as little human contact as possible (and assuming you can’t hire someone else to be the client contact), use colors, typefaces, and copy that suggest stoicism and distance. Focus your biography on your professional academic achievements. If, on the other hand, you are someone who is generally upbeat and loves working with people, consider using bright colors, mildly effusive and generous language, and details about your non-work self (your hobbies, your influences, your pets) in your marketing materials.