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How to Use Your Customer Problem Statement to Write a Marketing Message

Updated: Feb 7, 2023

In the previous post, we covered what a customer problem statement is, why it’s important for you to write one, and how to go about writing your customer problem statement. If you missed that post, you can read it HERE.


Now that we know what the problem is that we are solving, and what the feeling is that we are helping our customers to overcome, it’s time to use that information to craft a marketing message that will make the customer stop and pay attention to what we have to say.


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There are certain do’s and don’t when it comes to using the different digital channels that are available to businesses, but those are more technical and also differ per channel that you use. These include word count, structure, hashtags, etc. To accommodate the different requirements, what you want to achieve is to craft an overall marketing message that speaks to your customer problem statement but that can be changed and adapted according to the different requirements from the different channels that you have a presence on.


Translating Your Statement into a Marketing Message

Let’s look at the customer problem statement that we created in the previous post.


“Let’s pretend that we are the owner of a nail salon that offers nanny services while you have your nails done. This allows parents to spoil themselves with a treatment while their kids are entertained, looked after, and safe. When we look at our unique selling point (or our USP), it’s clear to see that our main target market is parents with young children. So, let’s create our customer problem statement with this information.
I AM (a parent) I AM TRYING (to have my nails done) BUT (I can’t find the time) BECAUSE (I have no one to look after the kids) WHICH MAKES ME FEEL (frustrated).”

Before we get into writing your marketing message, three assumptions need to be made in this instance:

  1. you already have your branding sorting (your logo, brand name, colours, brand voice, etc.)

  2. you have your vision and mission statement written

  3. you have established who your target market is and what your ideal customer looks like.


Using our unique selling point (nanny services) that caters for this specific customer (parents with small children), knowing what problem it is that we solve, and knowing how their problem makes them feel, we can craft a message that speaks directly to their problem and grabs their attention. For example:



“Enjoy your me-time with peace of mind knowing that your little ones are having fun.”



In this message, we are speaking to the customer’s frustration that they don’t have time because they can’t find anyone to look after their kids. Now, if you want to delve a bit deeper into the customer problem statement, you could swap out the ‘fun’ bit of your marketing message to speak to safety or education.


Reading a marketing message like this, coupled with the right imagery, placement and layout, will immediately grab your audience’s attention because you are directly speaking to their pain points - to something that they need fixing at that moment.


5 Things to Consider When Writing Your Marketing Message

We have covered how to craft a marketing message based on your customer problem statement but crafting the marketing message is just one of the hurdles that you need to overcome to move your customer down the customer life cycle. Ideally, what we want to achieve is to get your audience to engage with your message and ultimately become paying customers. Using the customer problem statement as a starting point, here are 5 things you should consider when crafting your marketing message:


1. Be clear and concise.

You only have a few seconds before the viewer decides if it’s worth their time to engage with your message. Don’t waffle, don’t write paragraphs. Be clear about your message and say it in as few words as possible.


2. Write the way you talk.

This might seem obvious, but it’s easy to fall into the habit of trying to sound clever. We tend to be very critical of ourselves and of the content that we create so we end up writing long-winded, large worded, highly complex pieces of marketing material that people can’t relate to. Stick to a conversational style that is in line with your brand voice.


3. Avoid jargon.

This ties in with point number two. Remember, you are speaking to customers who are in the Reach stage of the customer life cycle. They don’t know you, your brand, or your product. They only know they have a problem and they need someone to solve that problem for them. You can tell them in detail( and with as much jargon as is necessary) how you are going to solve their problem, but at a later stage in the customer life cycle.


4. Have one clear call-to-action.

A call-to-action (or CTA) is very important when it comes to crafting your marketing message. It helps your customer to know what to do next and encourages them to engage with your brand. But, giving your customer too many options is also not a great idea. Choose one call-to-action (either email us, phone us, send us a message, book your appointment, etc.) and one channel through which they should do this.


5. Start with your strongest point.

This one ties in with the first point. You only have seconds (if even) to capture your audience’s attention. Start with that part of your message that will make your audience stop and pay attention. This is also an important point to remember when adapting your marketing message to suit different platforms. Due to the different layout constraints across different digital platforms, your strongest point can differ per platform.


In Summary

Using your customer problem statement to write a marketing message means crafting a message that speaks directly to the problem that they want your business to solve. Speaking to customer pain points will help you grab your viewer’s attention, but getting them to engage with your brand requires you to consider the structure of your message, the imagery that accompanies the message, and the channel that you use.


When writing your marketing message, you need to:

  1. Be clear and concise

  2. Write the way you talk

  3. Avoid jargon

  4. Have a clear call-to-action

  5. Start with your strongest point

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