It’s pretty easy to write messaging for an audience that’s struggling or confused in a major way. E.g. “needs their first clients” in B2B world.
Because the desire/problem is straightforward and feels urgent, your messaging can be pretty… hamfisted and still connect enough. You know: the pain-agitate-solution formula we’ve all seen and used a million times; the templated “imagine if you could…” future-pacing sections; etc.
But what if your ideal clients aren’t struggling? What if their problems or goals are bigger and more complex? What if they’ve “been around the block” in business enough to be turned off by same-same obvious messaging frameworks?
If that’s the case for your clients, the standard ways of structuring your website pages and writing your messaging feel… like you (and your audience) have outgrown them.
So what do you do instead?
Here is my approach to shaping your website messaging to speak to experienced, already successful ideal clients:
1. Throw out the old playbook.
2. Interview your past/current clients who align with the type of client you want to attract more of, and uncover what they were thinking during that crucial decision-making period. This is how you start saying things that are unique to you and not just regurgitated basic pain points/outcomes your competitors are spouting.
3. Get as lean as possible with your website structure and user journey to make the “new client experience” feel intuitive — for busy, successful people, it’s not necessarily about “less words” (common misconception) but about an overall experience that feels easy. This is where website strategy and UX become vital.
4. Think beyond “articulating what you do” and lean into your powerful positioning — why you are the no-brainer best choice for your ideal clients. Your positioning, your edge, should be the through-line across your site (not just: “here’s what I do and who I do it for”).
5. Leave disempowered pain points behind and tap into the forward-momentum your ideal clients are seeking. Harness the excitement. Align your approach with their high expectations.
6. Sort leads into the right offers so that your website not only converts more but also eliminates that back-and-forth bottleneck with potential clients (which is a headache for you and them).
7. Decommodify what you do so “Can you do it cheaper?” thinkers are repelled — and experienced, “I value the best” thinkers are drawn to you. Let go of the urge to list out your services and invite people to “choose what they need” — you’re the expert; you tell them.
Each of these happen through lots of intentional choices that vary based on your audience and business model and industry, but I hope you’re starting to see the possibilities for thinking differently about your most valuable marketing and sales asset (aka your website).
I’m here to toss ideas around if you have a specific question for me.
If you’d like to become a website messaging client ahead of your new website launch (!!), reply and we’ll talk.
xoxo, your favorite website freak,
Krista
