What Problem Are We solving?

My calls with marketing mentees often revolve around pulling someone out of a lot of swirl about topics or tactics. What emails should I send, what should I say in this campaign, what should I be measuring and how.

I always pull us up a level first.

There are 10,000 ways to approach any marketing challenge. 

And every one of your stakeholders is coming at this with their own assumptions.

Always start by defining the problem you’re solving.

There are two layers to this: the problem we’re solving for the business, and the problem we’re solving for the customer. The rest will flow from there.

For example, you’ve been tasked with launching an email campaign to win back free trial users who didn’t (yet) convert to paying customers.

The problem for the business is clear: we want people who signed up for free access to sign up to be paying customers. These people made it to the consideration or decision stages. But they haven’t become customers. Depending on the nature and complexity of the sale, the problem you’re solving might really be getting people to engage in a conversation with sales, or completing a self-serve buy.

The problem for the customer is less clear. Presumably, these people know what problem your business is solving, they know what problem they’re facing, and they’ve at least considered whether it makes sense to invest in a solution. (In marketing-speak, they’ve passed the awareness stage.)

But. That’s where the safe assumptions end.

Were they just too busy to even think about that free trial before they signed up? Was the product too complex to even get started or to get value in a quick free trial? Was the communication meant to guide them through the free trial just not engaging enough? (Side note: Hopefully, we’re talking about a good product with proven product-market fit, and most free trial users are converting. Otherwise, this is a whole different game.)

This is where your empathy comes into play. You’re putting yourself in this person’s seat, understanding what they need, and designing marketing accordingly.

Look at the data. Understand the actual behavior of your free trial users.

Talk to the people. See if you can get some free trial users to talk with you live. Consider a simple one-question survey either before or shortly after a free trial ends to find out what problem your campaign needs to solve for them.

Once you know what problem you’re solving, write it down. Every creative endeavor works better when the problems are spelled out, as are the metrics for success, and a few other key pieces. My creative brief process can give you a start. Here’s a template you can copy. And if you have another approach, let me know. It’s all about progression.

Oh - and if you’d like to connect for mentorship, find me on GrowthMentor.