Reaching people who do not know they have a problem yet

4 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

Almost all small business marketing targets people already looking. Search, directories, comparison sites and referrals all reach somebody who has identified a need and started shopping. That group is valuable, it is also the group every competitor is bidding for, and in most markets it is a small fraction of the people who would benefit from what you sell.

The larger group has the problem and has not named it. They are living with the cost, treating it as normal, and will not search for your service because they do not know it exists. Reaching them is slower, harder to measure and considerably cheaper per person, and it is the only way to grow when the searching market is already saturated.

1. Reaching people who do not know they have a problem starts with symptoms, not solutions

The language difference.

They do not know your category name and will not respond to it. They recognise the symptom: the recurring repair bill, the fortnight lost every month, the thing that keeps going wrong. Talk about that.

2. Find out what they currently call it

Research you can do in a week.

Ask ten recent customers what they were experiencing before they found you, in their words. Their phrasing is almost never your industry's phrasing, and the gap is why your material does not land.

3. Quantify the cost they are absorbing

The move that creates recognition.

People tolerate a problem until somebody puts a number on it. "Most firms this size lose eleven days a year to this" converts a nuisance into a decision, and it is the single most effective thing you can say.

4. Expect a long lag

The structural feature.

Somebody who first recognises a problem this month may act in nine months or in three years. This is not failure and it is why the activity has to be sustained rather than judged in a quarter.

5. Go where they already are

The channel logic.

They are not searching, so they cannot be found by search. They are in trade associations, local networks, supplier newsletters, community groups and the audiences of adjacent businesses. Borrowed audiences are the main route.

6. Adjacent suppliers are the best partners

Where the leverage is.

Whoever already serves these people for something else has the relationship and the attention. An accountant, a supplier, a neighbouring trade — the introduction from them is worth more than any advertisement.

7. Teach rather than pitch

The tone that works here.

Somebody unaware of a problem is not in the market and reacts badly to being sold to. Material that explains the problem, its causes and how to tell whether you have it earns attention that a sales message does not.

8. Capture the ones who are not ready

Where the value is preserved.

Most people you reach will not act now. A low-commitment way to stay in contact — a list, a periodic useful message, a follow-up in six months — is what converts the effort into revenue later.

9. Measure differently, and be honest about it

The measurement problem.

Immediate conversion will look terrible. Reach, engagement, list growth and the number of enquiries mentioning your material are the available proxies, and they are proxies rather than proof.

Be careful about spending here while the searching market is unserved. If people actively looking for your service cannot find you, that is a cheaper and faster problem to fix, and it should come first.

Conclusion

Talk about the symptom rather than your solution, because they do not know your category exists.

Learn the words your customers used before they found you, put a number on what the problem is costing them, accept a long lag and sustain the activity rather than judging it quarterly, reach them through the audiences and suppliers they already deal with, teach rather than pitch, build a low-commitment way to stay in contact with the ones who are not ready, measure with honest proxies, and make sure people already searching for you can find you first.