Lead Engagement Strategy: Answer the Key Question

What’s in it for me (WIFM)” is a term used frequently in sales. It means speaking directly to the needs or interests of the prospect/customer. Traditionally WIFM hasn’t been a focus of marketing messages, but it’s gaining traction as the marketing organization strives to engage with prospects earlier in the buying cycle.

“While prospects are supposed to care about what is good for their organization, they always care about what’s good for themselves,” says Joe Hessmiller, Director of Marketing for one of Computer Aid, Inc., a marketing service provider. So, the more the message directly impacts the prospect, the higher the likelihood of engagement and action. Sometimes, it’s a matter of positioning the individual prospect in a better personal future: less work, less risk, more recognition, more influence, etc.

Where should marketers incorporate the concept of WIFM? Patrice Rhoades-Baum, a nationally recognized marketing consultant and branding expert advises that the WIFM approach should be incorporated everywhere in all marketing campaigns, and all media. Computer Aid works to incorporate the concept of WIFM in nurture emails and newsletters, textual content, website copy, PPC campaigns and brochures. When the lead’s needs are clearly stated, there is a significant upswing in engagement, Hessmiller says.In addition to the emotional response, WIFM works because our brains retain and form thoughts, and consider buying decisions, based on a hierarchy of associated bits of information. They retrieve and store information through images, smells, sounds, textures, or taste. When WIFM benefit statements are used in marketing programs, the benefit statement triggers positive associations, which puts the solution top of mind faster than a flat features-and-functions message1.

When Computer Aid began promoting a series of conferences featuring leading IT figures and showcasing their accomplishments, it knew the content of the presentations would be valuable input for organizational improvement. But, the bigger the name of the conference speakers, the larger the registration and attendance numbers. “For many attendees the speakers were celebrities they wanted to meet,” Hessmiller says.

To use another example, two different emails were sent to the same audience. The first email clearly stated the benefit/need that was being met for the message recipients. In the second email, the lead’s ‘hot buttons’ were not at the forefront of the message. The click-to-open engagement in the first email was 20% while the engagement percentage was only 4% in the second email. That’s five times the engagement when stating WIFM.

As the leads work through the buying cycle and different buyer personas engage, marketers must take into account the change in need and audience when developing the benefits statement in a nurture email or piece of content. The WIFM for a technical evaluator who might be interested in user interface is very different from that of an executive decision maker who is interested in growing the company. Email copy and assets that address WIFM for a specific target will outperform email copy and assets that attempt to broadly meet the needs of a wide and diverse audience.

“What’s in it for me” benefit statements in nurture emails, lead generation emails, and asset copy is a proven strategy for increasing lead engagement. Messaging that is specific to the lead’s buying cycle and persona adds power and punch to the marketing message that results in a positive recall that is heard above the noise of all the other information leads are deluged with.