How to Catch the Right Customers
Sometimes companies hit a confusing wall with marketing.
Traffic is up. Posts get more views. Videos perform better. Leads even start coming in.
But revenue does not move the way it should.
When that happens, it is rarely because marketing is failing. More often, marketing is doing its job, but it is attracting the wrong kind of attention. You are getting activity, but not the kind that turns into the right conversations, the right customers, and repeat business.
Most of the time, this happens because your messaging is built around what you want to say, not what your best customers are actually looking for and need to hear.
Often, campaigns start with internal wordsmithing. Teams brainstorm what they do, what they offer, and what makes them different. The result often sounds polished, but it does not connect.
Not because the business is weak. Because the message is not anchored to what the buyer is actually trying to solve.
A value proposition only works if it is valuable to the person reading it.
What is a value proposition, and why does it matter?
A value proposition is a clear statement of why a customer should choose you, framed around what matters to them.
It is not a slogan. It is not a list of services. It is the “why” in plain language.
And the best way to develop a real value proposition is not to brainstorm it in a room. The best way is to build it from your ideal customer profiles and your personas. Because the value proposition only works if it matches what the right buyer cares about.
“Match the Hatch” and why it matters in marketing
One of the reasons I named my company Elk River Marketing is because there’s a river in North Carolina I like to fly fish called the Elk River.
When I first began to fly fish, I was terrible.
I would get tangled up in my line. I would lose flies constantly. I would fish for hours and catch nothing. I could even see fish in the water, put the fly right in front of them, and they still would not bite.
My strategy was simple: pick flies that looked cool. Bright colors. Fancy patterns. Interesting shapes. Stuff that looked impressive in the fly shop.
And it did not work.
Then I learned a concept fly fishermen have used forever: match the hatch.
In fly fishing, “match the hatch” means you pay attention to what is actually happening in the water. If the trout are feeding on a specific insect that is hatching that day, they will ignore almost everything else. You can throw a perfectly tied fly that looks impressive, but if it does not match what the fish are focused on, you will not get bites.
The point is not that your fly is bad. The point is that it is the wrong match for what the fish are looking for and need.
Marketing works the same way.
You can have a great service, a strong team, and a clean website, but if your message does not match what your ideal customer actually needs, it will not connect.
When I stopped choosing flies based on what I thought looked cool and started choosing flies based on what the fish were already eating, everything changed.
I would sit on a rock and watch the water before I made a single cast.
I paid attention to what the fish were doing. Were they feeding near the bottom, rising just under the surface, or breaking the surface to grab insects?
I even turned over rocks to see what insects were actually present in the river.
Then I opened my fly box and chose the fly that matched what was real.
My catch rate went up fast. Not just more fish. Bigger fish.
Same river. Same rod. Same fly box.
Different approach.
That is the shift most companies need to make in marketing. Stop choosing messaging based on what sounds cool. Start choosing messaging based on what your best customers are already focused on.
How to build the best value proposition
Define your ideal customer profiles (ICP)
An ideal customer profile defines the type of company you serve best.
Industry, size, complexity, environment, geography, and what makes them a great fit.
This gives you focus. It narrows the stream you are fishing in, so you stop trying to win attention from everyone.
Because if your marketing is pulling in companies that will never buy, will never renew, or will never be profitable, more traffic is not a win. It is just more noise.
Build real personas inside those ICPs
Personas define the people inside those companies who make decisions and influence buying.
A safety leader is thinking about risk and compliance.
A facilities leader is thinking about uptime and response time.
Procurement is thinking about vendor accountability.
Finance is thinking about cost control and predictability.
Same company. Different needs. Different hatches.
When you define those personas, you can build messaging that speaks directly to what they care about. For each persona, physically write out what they are thinking, feeling, saying, and doing at each stage in the buying process. From the point of them becoming aware of your products and services to the point at which they decide to make a decision to choose your solution.
That is how you develop a value proposition that actually lands.
You do not write one generic value statement. You build a consistent core promise, then you translate it into persona-specific language.
Map your services to persona-specific outcomes
This is where brand guidelines stop being a document and start being a marketing engine.
Once you know the personas, you map your solutions to their challenges. For each persona, answer:
What problem are they trying to solve?
What risk are they trying to reduce?
What outcome are they measured on?
What keeps them up at night?
What would make them trust a service provider quickly?
Then build content that matches that.
If a persona is a facilities manager worried about downtime, your content speaks about response time, reliability, and proactive service.
If a persona is a safety director worried about compliance, your content speaks about inspection readiness, documentation, and reducing risk.
If a persona is procurement, your content speaks about vendor accountability, clear scope, consistent communication, and long-term partnership.
That is “match the hatch” in marketing.
You are not broadcasting. You are speaking directly to what matters.
And when you do that consistently, marketing stops feeling like guesswork.
Use the same system everywhere
Once you have ICPs, personas, and persona-translated value messaging, you can apply it across:
Website copy
Sales enablement
Case studies
Social content
Email campaigns
Ads and landing pages
The core promise stays consistent. The language shifts based on the buyer.
That is how you stay clear, credible, and relevant without constantly reinventing your marketing.
Stop casting and start converting!
Ready to stop casting at everything and start landing the right customers? Let’s map your ICPs, personas, and value proposition so your marketing finally matches what your buyers are actually biting on.