Your ideal clients need your services. You know this, but do they? Or, do they *think* they need something else that’s off the mark from what your expertise tells you they need? 

Often copy follows a straight-forward approach that shows your understanding of what your clients want and need. Sometimes, though, clients think they need one thing when you know they need something else to get better/to feel better/to do better. 

How do you get past this disparity between want and need? In this post, I’ll share some ideas on how I’ve helped clients overcome this issue so their copy truly connects with their ideal clients. 

Before we look any further into this puzzle, I’ll be up straight-forward with you: my marketing is ALWAYS up-front about what it’ll take to get the desired result from the service. I’ve found this results in, among other things, a greater conversion rate for marketing efforts and solid client relationships. If you’re ready to share this same direct way of working with your clients, read on. If you prefer to trick or hide info from your prospects to get a sale, the copy methods in this blog post won’t fit your needs. 

When Want and Need Are Similar

Let’s use some stand-in placeholders: A is what your ideal clients are currently experiencing, B is what they think they need and C is what you know they need to get better, feel better, or do better. A leads to B, which leads to C, where they find the solution to their current situation. 

Well, if your B and C are genuinely very different, your copy work is cut out for you. (But you already knew this.) I’ll break down how to tackle this in the next section. 

If the two are related, then your job is a bit easier.  If they’re related but not quite the same: 

1. Show them that you know deep down they want or know they need C 
2. Then, show them how they’ll get to C by way of B
3. Acknowledge that this will take work on their part AND work on your part
4. Then, give them a preview of how you’ll guide them from A to C

How does it play out? 

Example A: Parents of a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night. 

Example B: Your clients know they need to have guidance on helping their baby sleep through the night by training the baby to sleep better.

Example C: You know that the most significant piece for 90% of your clients is getting the parents to follow a procedure that works for most kids calmly.  In your copy, show them: 

• The specifics of their current situation, so they see themselves in the copy. (A) 
• The results they can expect from working with you (B and C)
• Then, show them what it will take when you break down the program and what they can expect. 

For the final step, there’s no need to give away the detailed program or methods that you use behind the scenes to get it to work for the parents; just let them know when they’ll need to do some of the work and when you’ll do some of the work.  Finally, connect how B results in what you know they need: C. 

When Want and Need are Different

What about when B and C not at all related? Creating copy that addresses what your ideal clients want and what you know (as the expert to help them) they need is challenging.  Here’s a suggestion of how I’ve helped it work for my clients: 

1. Show them that you understand their current situation (A) 
2. Then, show that they know they want or need B
3. Show them how far B will get them (either toward this goal or away from the goal; both work here) 
4. Show them how C will actually get them to their desired goal.
5. Acknowledge that this will take work on their part AND work on your part
6. Then, give them a preview of how you’ll guide them from A to C

Yes, there are more steps to achieving this result and more steps to creating copy that works for this situation. Here’s how it could play out in a similar situation to our first example with the same A and C as above: 

Example A: Parents of a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night. 

Example B: Your clients think they need to use intervention methods to get their baby to sleep through the night. Their ideas include the cry-it-out method, adding supplements to their baby’s pre-bedtime bottle, and feeding their child solid foods before the recommended age.

Example C: You know that the most significant piece for 90% of your clients is getting the parents to follow a procedure that works for most kids calmly.  In your copy, show them: 

• The specifics of their current situation, so they see themselves in the copy. (A) 
• The specifics of what they think they need (B) 
• The results they can expect from the results of what they think they need (B) 
• The results they can expect from the results what you know they need (C)
• Then, show them what it will take when you break down the program and what they can expect to get them to what they actually need (C) 

As with above, for the final step, there’s no need to give away the detailed program or methods that you use behind the scenes to get it to work for the parents; just let them know when they’ll need to do some of the work and when you’ll do some of the work.  Finally, connect how much C is the result that they genuinely want and need for their situation. 

When Prospects Want More Details

Once you’ve created copy using this method, you’ll still want to improve your copy periodically based on the new information you’ve learned from your ideal clients. (For more on how to make updates to your copy, see my free guide below.) 

If your clients want more: build in the answers to their question in the copy. Take note of their questions or reasons for hesitation that you hear from prospects, then work that information into your copy.  Why? If you’re giving prospects all of the information that they’ll need right up front on your site, you’ll bring them closer to knowing that working with you is the answer to their current issue.