03 Aug Will Pain or Promise Trigger Customers to Take Action? 

The need for people to see their pain before seeking a solution has been a rule of thumb in marketing for many years. In other words, for people to buy whatever you are selling, you must first identify their problem and then explain how you can help alleviate or eliminate it.

Of course, this was based on past human behavior and buyer psychology. As an illustration, marketers often say, “People won’t visit the physician unless they are already sick.” But the question is: Is it true?

The health industry is increasingly growing at a rate of 5 to 10 percent annually. A study recently conducted on health and wellness by McKinsey & Company indicates that 79 percent of the 7500 people polled indicated how essential wellness and preventative care are to them. People no longer seem to wait until they are sick to take action. Consequently, it means pain and sickness are less likely to prompt action.

Likewise, in marketing, it appears that seeing the problem before looking to find a solution is less of a motivator. It is also possible that identifying current pain may not be the best approach. So if it is not any of these, then what is it?

Maybe it is the promise – instead of pain! The promise of who they can become, how they can live, the success achievable, the life they can enjoy, or the time they can reclaim 

Consider pop culture, for instance.

Martha Stewart, a lifestyle guru who is still in the public eye today, was hugely popular in the 1990s. She was renowned for making home designs and cooking concepts appear simple, but she unintentionally made most people feel incompetent for not achieving what she did.

Marie Kondo, an organizing consultant, and minimalist living expert, is all the rage today with her “spark joy” technique for deciding whether to keep or toss items.

So what’s the difference? Pain or promise? Pain here equals inadequacy, and promise is the unequivical joy.

To effectively promote your product or service today, think about what will truly motivate your clients to hire you or patronize your goods. Do you have a solution to their problem? Is it a promise of what they can get or do from patronizing you? 

Pay attention to how the example above made you feel. Consider it a first step in deciding whether to promote the pain or the promise to your customers.

Which example drew your attention the most? As customers ourselves, we often forget that there isn’t much emotional difference between our customers and us.

In this transitional period we are, perhaps there’s presently no single approach to marketing. You may, however, need to start by discussing the problem your clients are having for which you’ve got a solution and then swiftly inspire them to visualize what they can achieve.

Use more aspirational terms and phrases in your content, website copy, and marketing materials. While established brands like Nike are leading in aspirational messages and have embraced the promise of being “all you can be” in their marketing, smaller businesses and entrepreneurs seem to have embraced pain marketing by following an older mindset.

Do you think you aren’t big enough to lead a great movement because you’re a small business? Customers are more drawn to a promise of who they can become with what you have to offer, and you may also be the breath of fresh air people need.

The transition from pain to promise marketing has been in motion for a while, but its recent increase may be an indication that people have encountered a lot more pain in recent years. 

Your prospective clients are yearning for better times, greater hope, possibilities, and promise. Perhaps you can get potential clients to crave you and your firm by selling a more hopeful message.