How Consultants Can Pierce Through The Marketing Noise With The 3 Levers Of “Different” and Become The Go-To Guy In Their Category
And what it has to do with organic chemistry
Thirty men approach a beautiful girl at the bar in the course of one evening. They do a perfect job of being a headache, which creates all kinds of defences and prejudices in the girl’s mind. Guy #31 got the short end of the stick because the others made things way tougher for him.
A founder sees thirty ads for lead-gen services on his Instagram feed and closes a deal with one agency. The typical agency doesn’t cut it, the client leaves, and now he’s sure all marketing agencies are scams. Who can blame him. His agency promised the world and delivered little results.
For agency number #31 and the rest, selling just got a lot harder. By the time our founder gets on a call with YOU, he’s probably been through another two to three frustrating experiences. As consultants, that’s what we’re up against- an emotional whirlpool from prospects caused by a sea of unqualified competitors.
Jumping the low fence
To become a doctor, you have to take organic chemistry in pre-med. It’s the gatekeeper that screens out non-committed students. The field’s abstract concepts, the volume of information, and the problem-solving skills needed are barriers to entry.
But the internet is a marvellous creation. It allows anyone, no matter how young or old, to make money in various professions. To start a business, you only need an internet connection. That’s it. Anyone can become a competitor. The barrier of entry is close to none.
It’s easy to hate the whole thing. Sometimes, I get frustrated with the millions of coaches and consultants popping into my feed. But then I remind myself it’s all just one big game- no reason to hate on the players. Everybody wants to succeed the same way we do. We might as well find a way to leverage the situation in our favour.
A huge pink cow
The first marketing book I read was “22 Immutable Laws Of Marketing”, by Al Ries and Jack Trout. One of the book’s key concepts is niching down to appeal differently to customers. I couldn’t understand “niching down” in a way which make sense. Then I realized it’s simple once you looked at it the right way:
#1 Solve a different problem
#2 For a different customer
#3 In a different way
The more variables you change, the more “different” you become.
For example, I sell Educational Email Courses for marketing companies. I solve bottom-of-funnel bottlenecks that business owners don’t even realize they have. EECs are rare. They’re a “new” offer that 99% of marketing companies don’t leverage. Another way to think about it is to ask yourself, “What’s an unusual way to solve a usual problem?”
Let’s say you’re a lead generation agency. After “I don’t have leads,” the number two pain companies have is getting unqualified leads instead of prospects who waste their time. Here are some “unusual” ways to solve that problem:
A. Call the leads yourself and qualify them for your client
B. Use SMS to qualify your leads
C. Use email to qualify your leads
Apply one of these, and now you’re “different” from 95% of lead-gen agencies. All you have to do is find a way to streamline these solutions.
Different by appeal
You can utilize another layer of differentiation. It’s less “technical” than the former ways of differentiating yourself: becoming an authority in your category.
The thing with the low barrier of entry markets is, most business owners have NO IDEA what they’re talking about. I’m laughing as I’m writing this. It’s true. It’s an incredible opportunity for you to stand out in a sea of unqualified players. There‘s only one condition — you must constantly demonstrate your ability to help your target customer solve his problems.
Some ways of doing that are:
1. Writing educational posts on LinkedIn and X
2. Publishing in-depth videos on Youtube
3. Writing long-form articles on Linkedin
4. Writing long-form newsletters via email (my favourite)
It’s long-form content that positions you as an authority figure.
The 200-character tweets and one-minute TikToks perform well for getting your customers’ attention. But insightful, long-form articles and videos make your customers go, “Wow. That company, they know their stuff.”
Conclusion
Thoughtful positioning and long-form content can help you cut through the noise and stand out to your prospects. Don’t abuse the positioning tactic, though, and use cliches like “AI marketing company”. You must be specific. Your solution must drive actual results for clients.
