What Should Be the Focus of a Local Service Business’s Advertising?

Short Answer: The focus should be on how your service can improve your customers’ lives by addressing their needs, issues, and problems. People primarily care about themselves and how something benefits them personally.

Full Explanation

At its core, effective advertising for a local service business is about connecting with people’s interests and concerns. Customers are most interested in what a service can do for them—not just the features of the service, but how it will enhance their personal experiences and solve their problems. When you shift your advertising focus towards these personal benefits, it becomes easier to engage your audience and make your message resonate.

For example, if you offer a service like building beautiful decks, don’t just advertise the design or quality of the decks themselves; instead, highlight how these decks will enrich the customer’s life. Emphasize the opportunities your service creates, such as hosting outdoor barbecues, spending meaningful time with family during holidays, or enjoying pleasant spring and summer days. This approach directly connects your service with the lifestyle and happiness of your potential customers.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Identify Customer Needs: Understand the personal needs or issues your potential customers face.
Focus on Benefits: Tailor your advertising message to show how your service addresses these needs and improves their life.
Use Relevant Examples: Highlight specific, relatable scenarios where your service makes a positive difference.
Create Emotional Appeal: Connect emotionally by showing how your service helps customers enjoy their time or solve problems.
Maintain Customer-Centered Messaging: Keep the emphasis on the customer’s perspective rather than just the features of your service.

Real Examples

Imagine a deck-building business focusing its advertising on the lifestyle benefits their decks provide: outdoor barbecues with friends, family gatherings during holidays, relaxing in the sun during spring and summer. Instead of presenting only technical details about materials or craftsmanship, the ads show people joyfully using the decks, reinforcing the idea that the service contributes to happy moments.

Common Mistakes

Focusing Too Much on Features: Advertising that only highlights the technical aspects of the service without relating it to customers’ lives misses the opportunity to connect emotionally.
Ignoring Customer Perspective: Forgetting that people care primarily about their own benefits can make ads feel irrelevant or disconnected.
Neglecting Context: Not showing how the service fits into everyday life or solves real problems can reduce the ad’s impact.

FAQs

Why is focusing on customer benefits important in local service advertising?: Because people care most about how a service can directly improve their lives or solve their problems, focusing on benefits makes your message more compelling and relatable.
Can I still mention the features of my service?: Yes, but features should support the message about benefits and improvements to the customer’s life rather than stand alone.
How can I identify what customers care about?: Consider the everyday problems or desires your service addresses and how it fits into their lifestyle.

Key Takeaways

People are primarily concerned with themselves and how something benefits them.
Focus advertising on how your service solves problems and improves customers’ lives.
Use relatable examples to create an emotional connection.
Avoid emphasizing just features without linking to personal benefits.
Always keep the customer’s perspective central in your messaging.