Take a moment to watch the Allstate advertisement featured above…

If you approach interactions with prospects assuming they already have a comprehensive understanding of everything they need when they talk to you, you're selling yourself short.
— HubSpot

Marketing based on need is probably the most common tactic we see. Every business is trying to fill some sort of hole in their customers’ lives and the quickest way to sell your product is to show the customer how you can solve their problems better than your competition.

Allstate, using their “Mayhem” character, portrays all kinds of different common situations that we face on a daily basis to sell their insurance. In this week’s feature Allstate uses a few different techniques to gain our attention.

First. They open up with their fairly familiar character “Mayhem” dancing and doing something a bit ridiculous. Even if this character isn’t familiar to the viewer they can still grab attention due to the fact that their character is a man in a business suite doing an awkward dance.

Second. They lean into online trends to gain your attention. No matter who you are… whether you like them or not… if you’ve been online in the last year you know how TikTok, Instagram reels, and/or YouTube shorts have taken over online video views. These short form videos often feature some kind of “challenge” for the video creator to complete. This builds tension and familiarity for their topic.

Third. They move on to the distracted driver who gets into an accident because they weren’t completely focused on the road. We have all experienced this unfortunate occurrence while driving. Not necessarily the ending crash but maybe a few close calls. So whether it was the close call or the resulting accident… this causes us to instantly relate to the target situation and therefore identify the NEED… their insurance.

While this is a rather on the nose example of a company using NEED as a buyer motivation; not all advertising is as obvious when using NEED as their motivator. What if your solution isn’t as clear as Allstate’s very obvious and relatable one? …or what if your what you solve isn’t even known by your customer yet?

Prospects don't always have a need until you inspire one.
— HubSpot

Even when your business solution isn’t as clear cut as Allstate’s… “You don’t have insurance so you have to pay for accidents.” I promise there is some NEED that your business is solving for your customer.

…are you saving your customer time?

…are you relieving your customer’s stress?

…helping them at tax season?

…maintaining cleanliness in their office space?

Your Challenge

What non-visible problem are you solving for your customer that will become glaringly apparent once you show them your business is the solution?

Need a Little Guidance?

Targeting Buyer Motivations

Worksheet

It's important that you take the time to understand the underlying buying motivations that will influence your customer. If you have a grasp on why they're considering buying, you can better understand how to approach them. In this exercise you will take one of your products and explore how you can target a specific buyer motivation in your ads.

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