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Five ways to show the before and after in your marketing

Image shows a woman sitting on a beach. How do you show the before and after in your marketing?

Good marketing shows your customers that you understand where they are now and where they could be with your help. Showing them the before and after can be really powerful. It can be easy to show a transformation in a couple of pictures, but it’s not the only way.

Read on to discover how your writing can show your customers the before and after.

Feeling better

When you think about ‘before and after,’ the first thing that probably springs to mind is a pair of photos showing someone before and after losing weight or having a makeover. If your business offers a physical transformation, using images is a great way to showcase your results. However, your words can show your audience more. For example, you could talk about all the things your clients can do now that they couldn’t do before, like going for a long walk or running around after their children.

The change you offer might not be visible, but it can dramatically improve someone’s health, like physiotherapy. Describing your results or sharing customer testimonials lets your readers understand the benefits.

Making life better

What do you give your customers that they didn’t have before? There’s more than one way to bring practical change into someone’s life. Do you make tedious but necessary tasks easier or save them time or money? Think about what that change might look like for your customers and how it helps them achieve their goals.

For example, a travel agent might help people get a family holiday on a budget or find the perfect relaxing break for a wealthy CEO with no time for research. Your knowledge and research help both, but in different ways, so you can tailor your content to suit.

Greater self-worth

Facing a challenge can be frustrating but can also impact how you feel about yourself. A new parent struggling to get their baby to sleep will experience many different emotions and might conclude that they’re a terrible parent, even though they’re nothing of the kind.

Finding the right help and guidance can help people feel more competent and in control of their situation. Create content that shows people you see their struggles and can help them.

Show the emotions

Even if you don’t transform the way someone feels about themselves, you might still bring about an emotional change. A good café offering a hot cup of tea can provide a few minutes of calm on a busy day. Even online ordering can ease someone’s stress, knowing they don’t have to find time to go to a shop.

If you save people time, think about what they might do with it instead. I often picture a business owner still writing their blog when they’d rather be reading the kids a bedtime story. What does that look like for your customers?

Better relationships

If you’re a marriage counsellor, you could literally save relationships, but other businesses could, too. Maybe saving someone time gives them more hours to spend with their loved ones instead of being ships that pass in the night. Perhaps you sell really great presents so your customers always know where to shop first.

If you want to write in a way that shows your customers the before and after, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, use the form below to sign up for monthly content writing tips straight to your inbox.

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How talking about transformation in your marketing will help your customers buy

A woman lies in bed reading an article talking about transformation
Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-reading-a-magazine-in-her-bed-6633697/

When you create marketing content for your business you’re aiming to show your future customers how each product or service will help them. You’ll do that in different ways, whether you’re writing content to build your relationship or copy to convince your audience to buy now.  Talking about transformation and how your products and services bring it about helps your audience see the benefits in action. It’s like a before and after weight loss picture with feelings.

Here’s how it works in practice.

The before

This is often the bit your audience will identify with most. Sometimes it works visually, particularly if you help your customers to achieve a physical transformation. At other times it doesn’t because you need to show that you understand how they feel. Your ‘before’ could be a feeling, like mum guilt, depression, or worry. Use those feelings as your starting point and talk about them in your marketing.

The after

Now comes the part where you show your audience where they could be with your help. You can do this in a blog post, offering general advice to help them see the benefits of your products or approach. This could be something like “why you need to hire a professional will writer” or “how accounting software saves you time”.  You can also offer tips that will give people a practical taster that your advice works and put them into free downloads to encourage sign-ups to your email list.  

The most powerful pieces of content are things like client testimonials and case studies that show your real-world results.

How talking about transformation works

The idea of talking about transformation might seem a bit obvious; you show your customers the before and after and it convinces them to buy. The thing is, it goes deeper than that. Human beings have always used stories to form communities. You’re telling someone a story when you talk them through a transformation. You’re also showing them that you understand. You stop being a business that wants to sell them something and become another person who knows what it’s like to be drowning in paperwork or how important it is to buy your mum a great Christmas present.

Two types of transformation

There are two ways that you can change someone’s life; you can make a physical difference and an emotional one. Good marketing content uses both.

Physical

When you’ve helped someone to achieve physical change, it could be outwardly obvious. That’s where those before and after photos come into play because you can show how much more toned someone is or improvements in their skin. You might not always be able to spot the difference by looking at them. Maybe you’ve saved someone time, helped them get more organised or to achieve a goal that’s only obvious to them. That’s where you need to start writing about it.

Emotional

Showing a practical transformation is great, but it only works if the person seeing it has an emotional response too. You might look at before and after photos and shrug because it’s irrelevant to you. Talking about the feelings that go with the transformation is what motivates people to take action. Get them to imagine what it would be like to feel healthier or less stressed. Show them that they can feel more confident in their parenting skills. That’s the stuff that motivates someone to make a change.

Do you need to start talking about transformation in your marketing? I can help with that. Book a call here and let’s have a chat.

Alternatively, if you’d like writing and marketing hints and tips straight to your inbox every month, sign up using the form below. I don’t do spam and you can unsubscribe whenever you like. You’ll also get a copy of my free guide with 5 easy content marketing tips to help your future customers find you online as a thanks from me!