Problem Solving Marketing

If you’ve ever bought something and thought, “How have I lived without this?”,  this episode is for you.

In this episode, Victoria shares a very unexpected marketing lesson sparked by a shopping trip and a pair of fluffy pink wristbands that completely changed her morning and evening routine. 

What started as confusion in a checkout queue turned into a powerful realisation about how people tolerate small daily frustrations… simply because no one has shown them there’s an easier way.

From there, she explores what this has to do with your business, your messaging, and why some of your best clients might be walking straight past the solution you offer.

If you want your marketing to feel less pushy and more obvious, in the best possible way, this episode will change how you think about problems, clarity and demand and the 'to do' list to get visible, and get your best type of clients taking action.

Sometimes the sale isn’t about being louder.

It’s about helping someone finally say, “Ohhh… now I get it.  And I want it."

Grab free templates, checklists and guides at allstarmarketingclub.com/resources - everything you need to market smarter, not harder.

About Victoria: Marketing Coach & Trainer Victoria Vickery serves up marketing advice with fewer buzzwords, more belly laughs, and stories you’ll never un-hear... because memorable marketing starts with memorable lessons.

For More Tales, Tips & Tangents:  @victoriav1ckery

Transcript

0:00

Some of your best clients are living with a problem they think is just how it is. They're accepting inefficiency, accepting underperformance, accepting discomfort, and maybe accepting messy systems until someone says there's actually a better way. And in your business, you do have a better way to show them. So what do you need to do? Welcome to What's That Got to Do with Marketing, where we start with a story you did not see coming. It might be fun, could be funny, or even a little bit frantic, but in the end, it will all make sense, leaving you with a takeaway, a to-do, or a transformational way forward. And I'm your host, Victoria, and you, my friend, are here for unlikely lessons and unforgettable marketing advice. Just for small B2B expert-led business owners. Let's get into it. This episode is called Problem Solving Marketing. Now, I went into good old Primark recently to get my hands on one of those viral two-piece outfits that I'd seen all over Instagram. Now, when queuing to pay, if you've been in there, you will know there's a whole range of bits and pieces to tempt you as you progress towards the cashiers. There's things like hairbands, trainer socks, packing cubes, because how do you even pack if you don't have packing cubes? Plus things like chewing gum, lip balm, and a load of other stuff. But the one product that caught my eye was this set of 2 wristbands. They were a bit like sweatbands, and if you were around in the 1980s, you'll know exactly what I mean. But these ones were— they were pink, they were made of like fluffy toweling material, and they had this huge, great big red puffy heart on them, and they were labeled as wash bands. Now, I picked them up and I had a chat with my friend, and I said, what the flipping hell are these things? How are you supposed to wash yourself with your wrists? So I did the actions at that point, and then I popped them back, continued in the queue, and obviously never even thought that these could ever be a thing in my life. Later on in the queue, I came across another pair, only this time they had an explanation on them. Oh, now I get it. You put them on your wrists so that when you wash your face, the water doesn't run down your arms and get your clothes wet. Oh my goodness, I can't tell you how long I've been suffering with that exact problem. If you know, you know. It's one of my daily face washing struggles, let me tell you. Now, it seems that I'm pretty late to the party here because apparently they've been around for a number of years, but now I know they exist, they can solve a problem that I thought that there was no solution to. So, in my basket they went. Never going back. My face washing moments have just got that little bit easier. So, what has that got to do with marketing? Well, so much. And today, I'm going to take you through a number of lessons that we can learn from this very story, and you'll be able to lift and shift this thinking into your own business. So, let's go for it with lesson number 1.

Lesson number 1 is this: 3:37

the problem people don't know is solvable. Some of your best clients are living with a problem they think is just how it is. They are accepting inefficiency, accepting underperformance. They are accepting discomfort, and they're probably accepting messy systems too, until someone says there's actually a better way., and you have got that better way in your business. So what do you need to do? Well, I'll tell you straight after this. We all know that listening to podcasts is great, but then get back to business and end up doing nothing that we've learned. So I've created the problem-solving marketing checklist. To support you with implementing everything from today's episode. It'll help you turn all of this vital information into action that helps boost your business results. You can grab it in the show notes or head over to allstarmarketingclub.com/resources. Okay, back to it. What do you need to do to show people the problems they didn't know were solvable? We need to create awareness before demand. Using your marketing channels, focus some of your marketing efforts on educating the market about their solvable problems. What does that mean? Well, you've got to show them what they've been tolerating so they can resonate with that and make sure you explain that there's an easier way forward. Let's make this practical with

a to-do list. So, number 1: 5:29

identify that water running down your arms problem in your industry. Spend 30 minutes this week listing the daily frustrations your clients have normalized. Not those big dramatic ones, the repeated irritations, the things that they are constantly sighing

about. Then, number 2: 5:51

gather real language. So, spend some time reviewing client emails, sales calls, testimonials, LinkedIn comments, online conversations that exist about those issues. What phrases do they use when they're describing those frustrations? Write them down word for word. Then number 3, create one piece of awareness content per week. It could be a post, an article, an email. Do that for the next 4 weeks to start with. And dedicate at least one piece of content purely to problem awareness. Not selling, not pitching, just naming the issue clearly and specifically. For example, start that with, have you noticed that? Are you still manually? Does it feel like? And then number 4, paint the contrast. In each piece of content that you put together, Clearly articulate what life looks like when that problem is actually solved. Make that relief really visible. And then number 5, audit your existing messaging. Block out some time to review your website, review your LinkedIn profile, review those sales pages. Are you assuming awareness of your product or service, or are you clearly articulating the problem first and then transitioning into that solution? Now, one consistent awareness piece each week will create that rhythm, and it will help your audience see that you are somebody that truly understands them in this space. It's about deliberately shining that light on problems that your audience has stopped even questioning, because once someone realizes they do not have to keep tolerating the drip, the mess, the inefficiency, they naturally start to look for help. You can't sell a solution to someone who hasn't realized they don't have to keep suffering, so that's your job here. Okay, lesson number 2. This is all about allowing the label to make the sale. I walked past my first set of fluffy wristbands I saw them, I held them, I rejected them. But why? Because I didn't understand them. The second time, there was context, there was explanation, there was clarity. Same product, different outcome. It ended up in my basket. So the marketing lesson really here is if people don't buy, it's often not the offer, it's the explanation. It's the clarity. Now, once we've educated about the problem and the solution, as we've learned in lesson 1, we need to go into signposting them to the point of purchase. Now, if clarity is what converts, then your job is to remove confusion before you try to increase persuasion. So, here's your action plan for that. I want you to do the "what the

flipping hell is this?" test. Look at your key marketing assets: 9:10

homepage, LinkedIn profile, brochures, landing pages, and ask yourself honestly, if someone brand new landed here, would they immediately understand? What is it you're selling? Who is it for? What problems does it solve? What outcomes does it deliver? If not, Highlight those vague phrases that you have. Words like optimize, transform, elevate, strategic, bespoke, and just replace them with plain English outcomes that your audience will actually understand. Now, the next thing to do then is to rewrite your offer in one clear sentence. Just spend 15 or 20 minutes crafting one line that follows this structure. I help specific audience solve specific problem so that they can specific result with my product or service. So let's bring that to life. For example, I help small business owners to create more leads and sales so they can grow their business and create a life they love with high-impact marketing training and coaching. Can you see? No cleverness, just clarity. So see if you can fill in that

blank. Now, number 3: 10:32

add a "so that" to everything. Go through your key messages and think about adding in a benefit explanation after every single feature. So for example, in the case of my 12-week client creation program, I'll say things like, 'You get a weekly coaching call so that you are held accountable and you're easily able to implement what you learn to build your structured repeatable marketing system.' Now, how about an HR consultant, for example? Here we go. 'You get a monthly HR check-in call so that you become a proactive employer instead of reacting to staff issues that derail you.' Can you see the difference? Because we're listing a benefit But on its own, it doesn't really fit with us emotionally or give us a reason why we need it. So when we add on the 'so that,' it gives us a chance to explain and add that important thinking and context to why that benefit is important. So features will inform them, but outcomes are actually what convert. Number 4 from this lesson is use real examples. Spend some time adding at least one concrete example to each core offer page or sales conversation that you have. Now, not abstract transformation. It's about specific shifts, befores and afters. What changed? What stopped happening? What started happening? Clarity increases when people can see themselves in the actual outcome that you're painting. So, in summary of lesson 2, if you cannot explain it simply, your buyer just won't buy it because they're not going to feel confident. Here's the truth. People are not necessarily rejecting good offers, they're rejecting unclear offers. So when someone actually understands what you do, why it matters, and how it helps them, the decision just becomes so much easier. So clarity is removing that friction. Clarity is building that trust, and clarity reduces hesitation, and clarity converts at the end of the day. All right, let's move on now to lesson 3. There are late-to-the-party buyers. I was late to the party with my new purchase of the toweling wristbands, and

the lesson really is this: 13:11

just because what you have is not necessarily new and you feel like everyone knows about it, or maybe you feel like everyone knows about you, but that doesn't mean it's the case. Because there are always people who haven't seen it yet, people who haven't understood it, and people who weren't ready when they saw it the first, second, third, fourth, tenth, twentieth, fiftieth time. So we've got to stop assuming. Stop assuming your market just knows. Stop assuming that they've seen your stuff already. Stop assuming they should have already bought it if they wanted it, and just stop assuming they already actually have it, because every week someone is discovering something that's been around for years., and you don't need the whole world. You just need the right people at the right moment. So this is the action that I really want you to take now. First of all, reintroduce your core offer once a week, not apologetically like, oh, I know you know this, but don't position it like you're repeating yourself. Do it as if the person reading or watching has never heard that from you before. Number 2, share one foundational belief that you have each week. So perhaps you need to explain something you think is obvious in your industry. Spell it out, teach it clearly. Don't be afraid to do that. Assume zero knowledge is out there. You're talking to those that don't know. Yes, there'll be ones that do, But we've got to get some content out there that is for the ones that don't. And stop referencing things like, as you know, or as many of you know, in your content. Replace it with clear context. Assume nothing. So this really shouldn't be taking you any extra time because it's simply a mindset shift in the content you're already creating. So add it into what you're already creating. Now, visibility is not about saying something once. It's about being present when someone is finally ready to hear it. And when that moment comes, you want them to think to themselves, oh, this is exactly what I've been looking for. And if you've stopped saying all that foundational stuff, then you're going to miss the boat on so many new possible leads. And don't forget that small stuff, those little micro irritations, because they often win over and above the major stuff. It's not necessarily life-saving stuff, it's not necessarily revolutionary, but it solves that daily friction point. For example, perhaps it's a report that saves 20 minutes, perhaps it's a system that stops double entry, perhaps it's a framework that you have that reduces awkward sales calls. Tiny friction removed equals high perceived value. So really, don't underestimate those small wins. So let's summarize. Here's what I want you to do after this episode finishes. Don't just nod along and think, "Oh, that was interesting." Pick one irritation your clients are tolerating, clarify that one message that might be confusing, and reintroduce one foundational truth that you've stopped saying because you assume everyone already knows it. That's it. Because marketing's not always about bigger launches, louder campaigns, or shinier tactics. Sometimes it's just about noticing the irritation. And in my case, it was those drips running down my arm when I was washing my face. And just label your solution clearly. Consistently show up for that person that needs to discover that you've got something to help them with that irritation that they're putting up with. And if you do that, you don't need to push harder. You just simply make it easier for the right people to put you in their basket. Now, if this episode has got you thinking about the tolerated frustrations in your market, the clarity of messaging, or Whether you've gone a bit quiet on the foundations, then I've put something together for you. It's a simple problem-solving marketing checklist that pulls everything together that we've covered today. You can download it from the show notes or head over to allstarmarketingclub.com/resources and use it to audit your own marketing, to sharpen your messages and make sure you're not being picked up and put back down by your ideal customers. It will probably take you less than an hour to work through, but it could completely change how clearly your market sees you, and what could be better than that? I'll see you next time on What's That Got to Do with Marketing?