Academy / Find your customer and your message
Lesson 2 of 5 · 5 min
What they want, in their words
People buy what happens after a 60 minute class, a balayage or a coaching package. A post that names the after gets read. A post that lists the features gets skipped.
What you sell and what they buy
For each thing you sell, write what the customer gets from it:
- A 45 minute beginner yoga class gets them touching their toes again without a warm-up.
- A haircut with a consultation gets them walking out with the cut they showed you on their phone.
- A dog grooming appointment gets them a dog that smells good on the sofa tonight.
- Six coaching calls get them a price they can say out loud without apologizing.
- Hand-poured candles get them a gift that looks like they thought about it.
What they get is where your posts start. What you sell is the detail that comes second.
Where to find their words
Your customers have already told you what they want. It is written down in places you visit every week:
- DMs and comments. The questions people ask before they book. "Is it OK if I have never done yoga?" is a post.
- Reviews. Yours and your competitors'. Read the three star ones too: they say what people hoped for and did not get.
- The front desk or the checkout. What people say while they pay. Keep a note on your phone for a week.
- Your own sent messages. What you explain again and again is what people do not know yet.
Copy the exact phrases. Keep the odd grammar and the small words. "I want to stop feeling stiff all the time" is better post material than anything you could polish it into.
Sort the phrases
After a week you will have ten or twenty lines. Most fall into three groups:
- The problem: "I feel stiff all the time", "my hair never looks like the photo".
- The wish: "I want an hour that is mine", "I want a gift that does not look last minute".
- The doubt: "I am not flexible enough", "is it worth the price". Lesson 4 is about these.
The group with the most lines tells you what to post about first.
Try it now
Open your DMs and your reviews for ten minutes. If your Instagram or Facebook account is connected to Postfjord, the button opens your inbox, with every DM in one list. Write down five phrases a customer used, word for word, and put each in one of the three groups.
Quick check · 3 questions
Check what stuck
A yoga studio sells a 45 minute beginner class. What does the customer buy?
Show the answer
Touching their toes again without a warm-up. Name the after. The class length is the detail that comes second.
Where can you find the words your customers use?
Show the answer
In DMs, reviews and what people say at the front desk. Your customers have already told you. Copy the exact phrases, odd grammar and all.
What do you do with a phrase like "I want to stop feeling stiff all the time"?
Show the answer
Keep it as it is and use it in a post. The customer's own words are the ones the next customer recognizes.
In this course
- 1Who you sell toWhy "everyone" is the hardest customer to write for, how to pick one real person, and the five things to know about them. · 5 min
- 2What they want, in their wordsWhere to find the words your customers use, the difference between what you sell and what they buy, and a list of phrases to reuse. · 5 min
- 3Your message in one sentenceA simple pattern for the sentence that says who you help, with what and why you, five worked examples, and a test to know it works. · 5 min
- 4Proof and the doubts people haveThe kinds of proof a small business already has, the five doubts that stop people from booking, and a post that answers one of them. · 6 min
- 5A voice that sounds like youDescribe how you sound in a few words and a few rules, then put the whole course into the brand voice in Postfjord so every draft starts from it. · 6 min