Hello Reader,
This week my friend Karin interviewed me for her new podcast, Counsel Cast. It's not live yet (that'll happen next month) and we dug into the intersection of pricing and marketing. People often wonder why I, longtime marketer, talk so much about pricing models so much, so Karin and I dug into that topic and it's been on my mind all week.
But here's the crux of my answer to this question: you can have the most stellar marketing in the world, for the best service/product/cause/whatever ever seen, but if people cannot figure out how to pay you, if the pricing is confusing, or people have to "hop on a call" 🙄 so you can then reveal the price after 30 minutes or an hour of conversation, you're missing out. You're instead engineering a friction-filled, frustration-laden experience that harms your marketing.
It's that simple.
(An aside: Compound this confusion with the further disconnect organizations that silo their marketing and operations create when the brand and the pricing are totally disconnected and we've got massive confusion bordering on mistrust. Yep, I've experienced this in previous careers and it's not great!)
Confusion and stress about the unknown really messes with our heads, and yet, so much marketing does exactly that.
What if instead of creating tension, we started with empathy? Empathy is very powerful in marketing (assuming it's real, and not just for show—people can tell), and pricing is a piece—not all—of that.
Now, you may be hearing me as if I'm saying "Post prices, use productized services, do it my way." But that's not the case at all.
What I'm saying is to be cognizant of the role your pricing strategies and communication around pricing play in creating clarity or confusion.
Have a highly customized service? Cool! Write case studies that discuss budgets so people can understand HOW you arrive at pricing. (One of our old web design clients did this recently around an HVAC project and I loved this approach. Think about how much clarity and calmness this information would create for someone looking at an HVAC project.)
Pricing clarity is a work it out-able problem that will help you market more effectively, to the right people.
Talk next week,
Sarah
P.S. Want to book a 1:1 with yours truly? Grab a spot here!
The status quo of modern marketing isn't designed for you and me.The hard truth is that most marketing strategies are designed for massive corporations, while small businesses, consultants, coaches, and other experts are left feeling that the advice they’re given just doesn’t fit—and they’re right. We have two choices: we can struggle to force our businesses into an ill-fitting mold, or we can reinvent a system that works for us and allows us to thrive. I don’t know about you, I prefer door number two. 💌 Reach our team at hello@smco.studio. 🌟 Ready to work together? https://sarahmoon.net/get-started
Hello Reader, Over the years, a lot of business owners have "confessed" to me that when they first started their website, they wrote a few blog posts in their excitement about having a a real, legit home online. And then... life lifed and they never kept it up. And... never saw the benefits. This is such a common story and it's one that can feel a bit daunting. If this is you, you may be wondering: Will I look silly if I start blogging again after two, three, five years or more? What do I...
Hello Reader, Sometimes I have to remind myself to take my own advice. This week, I was feeling a bit uninspired with what to write about for my newsletter. August is typically a lower open rate for me, and I know folks are just busy right now—plus I'm just plain worn out after a busy summer! Then I thought to myself, "Sarah, what would you tell a client who had this kind of block?" My answer: "Ask yourself how you can help someone today. Write about that." Which I've probably said more than...
Hi Reader, The pervasive belief that more content is better is enough to make me kick walls (except I would stub my toe and that is the absolute worst). Post more, share more, do more, more, more, more... No one can keep up and goal posts keep getting moved. But this couldn't be further from the truth. Quality, not quantity, is the key to successful marketing. Why is less more? Relevance: High-quality content marketing that directly addresses your audience's needs and pain points is far more...