The #1 Rule of Marketing

Always enter the conversation already taking place in the customer’s mind.” — Robert Collier

Earlier this week I was at dinner with friends where a variety of conversations were taking place at the table. My attention was suddenly pulled to a conversation about yoga.

Now, the truth is that yoga as a topic would not normally grab my attention. I think yoga’s great, but it’s not really a top-of-mind interest for me. Normally, my mind would have filtered this conversation out and my focus would have remained on the interaction I was already a part of.

However, this yoga conversation was different. My friend was recounting a recent experience where she ran a workshop for veterans to help them process trauma stored in their bodies through restorative yoga. She explained how one participant had a big emotional release at the end of the workshop as her body let go of anxiety and tension that had long been stored in her muscles.

That got my attention.

I immediately switched my focus to her story. Ever since I read The Body Keeps the Score last year, processing trauma through movement has been at the top of my mind as something that could help me and others close to me to improve mental health.

In other words, this particular story “entered the conversation already taking place” in my mind. This is one of the most important things you can do when creating content and messaging for your marketing and sales. You have to meet your intended customers where they are.

What are the top-of-mind pains and problems they think about regularly? What keeps them awake at night? What are they actively interested in and looking for? What language do they use when talking about these things? Why are these things important to them?

It’s imperative to know the answers to questions like these so that you can tie your message and value proposition to them.

Only then will you get through the “spam filter” in their mind and gain their attention.

Be sure to speak to pains, problems, unfulfilled desires, and unmet needs before you start talking about your solution.

Just talking about yoga will get lost in the noise. Talking about yoga as a way to improve flexibility and prevent injury is a top-of-mind topic that will stand out and grab the attention of a specific audience. Talking about yoga as a way to mitigate the effects of sitting at a desk all day working at a computer will stand out and grab the attention of another specific audience.

When creating content for the purpose of expanding your visibility, gaining the attention of your market, and generating leads, the #1 rule is to always enter the conversation already going on in your customer’s mind so that your voice doesn’t get lost in the myriad of conversation taking place at the Internet table.