“You don’t know what you don’t know.”
It’s a pretty obvious statement, right?
And yet we’re scared to get things wrong. We don’t want to make mistakes. So we don’t act.
This week I ordered some running spikes for my next cross country race. These are basically very lightweight running shoes with holes in the sole that you can screw metal spikes into, to grip the mud.
When I opened the box my husband Paul said, “Aren’t they track spikes?” Er, what?
Apparently there are different types of spikes and I’d ordered the wrong ones.
Luckily I was due in town for a meeting so I managed to get hold of the right shoes from Up & Running, along with some great advice.
I hate getting things wrong, but the guys in the shop were very laid back and happy to talk me through the differences between track and xc shoes.
And that’s how it should be because we can’t all be experts in everything.
We all have gaps in our knowledge
I regularly meet people who only understand a small fraction of what’s possible when it comes to promoting their business online. They have big gaps in their knowledge, and a quick chat can really open their eyes to what’s possible.
It will be the same for your potential customers – they’ll have gaps in their knowledge that you can fill.
Take Facebook pixels. If people are visiting your website and you don’t have a Facebook pixel set up, then you’re missing a trick.
The pixel is a bit of code that sits on your website and tells Facebook who’s visited. You can then put out adverts on Facebook to those people.
That way you’re targeting a warmer audience of people who already know who you are, instead of just advertising to a cold, possibly unreceptive audience.
Even if you don’t have immediate plans to advertise on Facebook, it’s worth setting the pixel up, as Facebook will store the info for 180 days, so you’ll be building a potential audience you can market to in the future.
If you already know about the pixel then it’s hard to imagine anyone hasn’t heard of it, but I’ve met a few people recently who didn’t have a clue you could do this.
If you’re running a successful offline business then it wouldn’t necessarily be on your radar, but it’s a powerful tool.
So what are the things that are “obvious” to you but that your target audience might not know about?
Talk to your potential customers and find out where the gaps in their knowledge are.
Then educate them.
How to educate your audience
Give a talk, write a blog post, send an email, share content on social media… whatever method you go for, it all helps to increase your authority and encourage people to buy from you.
And if you’re sharing info in person, there’s nothing better than seeing someone’s eyes light up as you explain something beneficial that they were completely unaware of.
So find those knowledge gaps and start educating your audience.
And like the guys at Up & Running on Colmore Row, do it in a way that makes them feel good, so that you become the “go to” person.
I only went in for running shoes but I came away with an extra pack of metal spikes, some helpful info about my race, and some great cross country tips. I didn’t know I needed that advice, but it was really useful and I know exactly where I’ll be going the next time I need some new running kit.
If you need help to get better results from your marketing efforts, especially with website copy, blogs and email campaigns, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on 0121 405 0071, or contact me here.