💭Why you’re not connecting with your dream clients and how to fix it: marketing strategies you need to know about

Let me guess why you’re here. You’re a business owner. You’re great at what you do. You know the difference your product or service can make. Your customers are giving you 5-star reviews. And yet, your dream clients still aren’t knocking at your door. I hear you. I know just how disheartening that can be. But it doesn’t have to stay like this. Let’s take a look… 👇

Problem 1: You don’t know who your dream clients are 😶‍🌫️

So, who would you really love to work with? Before you say it, “everyone” is not the correct answer to this question. I know you don’t want to leave money on the table but when you try to appeal to everyone, you end up pleasing no one. Plus, imagine how much more fun it would be to run a business where you work with people you actually like, you feel like you’re making a difference and you’re reaching your business goals?

When you don’t know who your dream clients are, it’s really hard to speak directly to them. It’s hard to know what problems they’re facing, their hesitancies, the little bonuses they’ll love, what matters most to them and what their budget is. The end result? Vague messaging full of general statements and woolly promises which blends into the background.

🔧 How to fix it:

Get narrow and get specific. Take some time to create customer personas. In this exercise, there’s no such things as too much detail. Some questions you may want to ask yourself are:

❓What’s the name, age and gender of my ideal customer?

❓ What do they do for work and how much do they make?

❓What are they like as a person? What do they value? Where do they shop? How do they spend their time and money?

❓What problems are they facing? How can you help?

❓What’s stopping them from investing? What are their alternatives?

Once you’ve got a clear idea of your dream client, reaching them is a lot easier. With each Instagram post, marketing campaign or ad you can picture them as you write. Would the content resonate with them or make them unsubscribe? Would that cultural reference make them laugh or roll their eyes? What questions can you answer for them? The goal is to create content that makes your dream client think you wrote it just for them.

💡The takeaway: Clarity on who your dream client is leads to clarity in messaging 💡

Problem 2: You’re not speaking the same language as your dream clients 🤐

Do you speak the same language as your dream clients? If you do, you can scroll on to the next point. If you don’t or not all your dream clients speak the same language as you, here are some stats you might want to know about:

Surprised? So was I. If your website isn’t in the native language of your dream clients, they may be scrolling past your website, not finding it when they search due to no language specific search engine optimisation (SEO) and you may be missing out on sales.

🔧 How to fix it:

The easiest way to fix this problem is to get your content translated by a real life, professional translator. Not a machine. To connect with your audience, you want someone who understands your brand, gets your cultural references, can pick the right tone of voice and build connection and trust. Yes, it has a cost. But you’ll make it back with the increase in sales.

💡The takeaway: Make it as easy as possible for your dream clients by speaking to them in their native tongue💡

Problem 3: Your brand tone of voice is giving your dream clients the ick 🤢

Picture the scene. You’re on a first date. Your date turns up late, is rude to the waiting staff and only talks about themselves. There’s not going to be a second date.

The bad news? Your business might be doing the same when your dream customers are visiting your website. Talking about yourself, constantly changing tone of voice and using words which don’t resonate with your target audiences are instant turnoffs.

The good news? If you get your tone of voice right, it’s a powerful tool. In simple terms, your brand voice is the personality your brand takes on every time you communicate. Your brand tone is the emotional response people have to your brand and adapts based on the situation. Your voice is who you are; your tone is how you say it.

Having a set brand voice & tone matters because:

🔧 How to fix it:

It’s time to find your voice. But finding your voice in a noisy world isn’t easy. It can be hard to take a step back from what you do to look at how and why you do it. The more you can drill into what sounds like you and what doesn’t, the clearer your voice will become. This gives you confidence when you write and ensures that your brand sounds the same regardless of who’s writing.

Here are some exercises to get you started:

❓Look at your existing content: your website, your socials, your emails. You’ll be developing a tone of voice whether you know it or not. Do you sound the same everywhere? What do you love and what do you want to change?

❓What are your clients saying about you? What is it that make people choose you?

❓What are the first three words you want your customers to think of when they think of your business?

❓What words do you want to consistently use in your copy? What words do you never want used?

💡The takeaway: Use language your dream clients would use and relate to in order to build relationship and trust 💡

Problem 4: Your dream clients can’t find you 🗺️

Here’s a hard truth: your dream clients can’t work with you if they don’t know you exist. They also won’t work with you if they don’t know they have a problem, they don’t know there’s a solution and they don’t know that you’ve got the perfect solution for them.

Spend any time reading about marketing and you’ll find oodles of information about customer awareness. There are normally five stages:

If you don’t have content for each of the stages of awareness, you may be missing out on sales as potential customers are missing key information.

🔧 How to fix it:

There are lots of ways you can give your dream clients the info they need and make yourself more visible at the same time. You’ll want start by looking at what content you’re missing. What are customers searching for online? What questions are you asked most often? What do clients need to know before working with you? Creating a content strategy based around these questions (and lots more!) helps you create content that highlights your expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). This is the filter Google uses to rank content so that the results they give people are actually helpful.

Once you’ve got great content, it’s time to consider SEO which helps you rank higher on Google searches and brings in organic traffic. In super basic terms, SEO involves:

🔎 Keyword research: the things people are searching for

✏️ Content creation: where you create content that people are looking for

📃 On-page SEO: making your content as clear as possible

🔗 Link building: to build trust and authority from other websites

🧑‍💻 Technical SEO: to help search engines find, crawl and index your content

 If you want to DIY it, check out resources from Hubspot, Semrush, Moz and Ahrefs or you can hire an expert to help you. Personally I’d highly recommend Nikki Pilkington’s SEO course.

Now you’ve got that shiny new optimised content, share it. Show up in the places where your dream clients hang out and share genuinely helpful content. Answer questions. Build relationships. Not just with a view to making a sale but because you’re a great human who has knowledge that can help other people. The goal is to be top of mind when someone need your product or service. That’s way more likely to happen if people know you, like you and trust you.

💡The takeaway: Create a content strategy so you’re consistently showing up where your dream clients hang out. 💡

Problem 5: You’re not showing your dream clients the proof 🧾

We can all be a bit sceptical sometimes. We see a great offer and it seems too good to be true. We can’t see any proof and we’re worried it’s a scam. We want to know how actual, real humans found the process, the value it provided and whether it solved their problems. Without social proof, potential customers may not trust you, may not know what makes you different and may not be in a rush to act.

🔧 How to fix it:

Lean into that social proof. According to Contents Hub:

“Social proof works by tapping into our natural desire to fit in, conform, and avoid making mistakes. It also appeals to our emotions, such as fear of missing out, curiosity, envy, and admiration. When we see that others are enjoying, benefiting, or endorsing something, we are more likely to want it, trust it, and buy it.”

So, what can you use as social proof?

💬 Testimonials: share all the things your clients love about you. Using their words can be a powerful tool as it’s highly likely to resonate with other people like them i.e. more of your dream clients.

🔬Case studies: show potential clients the results you’ve got in the past and how you did it.

📊 Stats: people love concrete, measurable proof. Think about including information like:

📈 How many customers you’ve served

📈 Your percentage of satisfied customers

📈 Your percentage of returning customers

📈 The number of referrals you’ve received

📈 The number of purchases you’ve had

📱 Social media: share customer content to build a bigger audience.

🏆 Awards and qualifications: show you’ve got the knowledge to back up your claims.

💡The takeaway: Use social proof to show your dream clients the difference you can make to them. 💡

Problem 6: Your dream clients don’t know what the next step is ⏭️

How many times have you been close to making a decision and then suddenly got cold feet? Maybe you’re not sure you really need that item. Maybe you’ve never worked with this kind of service provider and you have no idea what’ll happen next. Maybe you’re scared the terms and conditions that no one ever reads will mean you accidentally give away your first born. Whatever it is, these nagging doubts and hesitancies can lead to readers to look at different options, delay their decision, choose one of your competitors or just choose not to buy at all.

🔧 How to fix it:

In Content Fortress, Martin Huntbach and Lyndsay Cambridge use the term “process content” which helps address this problem. Process content reassures your clients, explains the next steps and instils confidence. It shows you know what you’re doing, that you have a process and also helps you avoid the dreaded scope creep.

Think about what you’d want to know about your process if you were a potential client. Things like:

 ❓What is you process from start to finish?

❓How do I get in touch with you? What happens if I do?

 ❓How long does the whole process take from start to finish?

❓What do you need for me? When? Why?

💡The takeaway: Use process content to make it clear how to get in touch and what happens next. 💡

Problem 7: Your marketing efforts are inconsistent 〰️

Let’s be real. Consistency is hard in any setting. Whether going to the gym, saving money or learning a new language, it’s easy to give up or get distracted by the newest shiniest thing. If you’re consistent you can:

💫 Increase your sales: consistent brands are worth 20% more than those with inconsistencies in their messaging (Techipedia)

💫 Build trust with your clients: by becoming more recognisable and establishing yourself as an authority in your field

💫 Turn your customers into fans: so they recommend you to their world

💫 Generate leads: by sharing free, useful information with clear CTAS

💫 Rank higher on searches: SEO strikes again

🔧 How to fix it:

Be consistent. Simple right?

Just kidding. If only it were that easy. But there are strategies that can help:

🗺️ Create a content plan and stick to it. This is way easier if you break your big plan into smaller steps and daily actions.

🎯 Focus on one platform at a time. Where are your dream clients most likely to be hanging out? LinkedIn? Instagram? TikTok? Wherever it is, get good on that platform. Really good. You can always add other platforms in as you get more consistent.

🙋 Outsource. If there are jobs you don’t like doing or aren’t good at, outsource them. There are people who are brilliant at writing, graphic design, SEO, website management, social media and just about anything you can think of. Paying them gives you a better end product, frees up your time and lets you spend more time doing what you love.

📚 Reading rec: Atomic Habits by James Clear is excellent for exploring the psychology of habits and gives practical tips on how to build them.

💡The takeaway: Content marketing is a long game. Keep showing up to see results. 💡

💌 P.S. Want to reach your dream clients but short on time? Chat to me about copywriting that grabs readers by the eyeballs & personality-packed French & Spanish to English marketing translations