Can you spot the gap between the what and the why in your marketing?

One of the first questions I ask clients when they come to me with any doubts about how well their marketing is doing is:

What problem is your customer trying to solve right now?

I ask this because most businesses can clearly explain what they sell but generally struggle to clearly describe what their customer is experiencing before they decide to buy.

That gap affects how effectively you can market your business. If your content talks about your offer but doesn’t connect to the problem someone is already thinking about, it becomes easy to scroll past. It doesn’t feel immediately relevant to the audience, which means it won’t connect with them.

When someone is considering buying, they are already in a situation. They are trying to work something out or make a decision, and there is usually some level of uncertainty or friction that has prompted them to start looking for a solution. If your marketing only describes your service and does not reflect that situation back to them, you are assuming they will make the connection on their own.

Here’s a simple way to check whether that connection is clear in your marketing:

1. On a piece of paper or in Excel, Word, or your Notes app, write down what you sell in one column.

2. Then write down the situation your customer is in before they come to you. What are they struggling with? What decision are they trying to make? What feels confusing and uncertain?

When you look at those two descriptions side by side, you can usually see quickly whether your messaging is clearly linking the situation they are in to the solution you provide.

And when you make that connection obvious in your messaging and in your content, what you say becomes easier to understand. And when something feels easy to understand, people are far more likely to pay attention.

Often, improving marketing starts with tightening that link between the problem someone is already thinking about and the solution you offer.

So don’t go and question your whole marketing setup just yet.

When you have doubts, start here.