Deficiency versus aspirational marketing

Two popular ways to present your marketing are as “deficiency marketing” or “aspirational marketing”.

With deficiency marketing, you’re working to meet people where they are. This is similar to the idea of aiming to serve your past self. Show people that you understand their current problems, and you can draw them into your story.

With aspirational marketing, you’re showing people where they want to go. When we’re creating a messaging strategy for a client, a big part of that is helping them find the words to show people how life can be better after working with them.

Either approach can be very powerful, but the best move is to combine them both. If you can show people that you understand their problems and you can show them what the future could look like, that’s a pretty compelling story.

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on December 14, 2021.