My daughter and I like to watch Hallmark Christmas Movies. Yes, they’re a little sappy and totally predictable, but they’re our guilty pleasure on a Sunday afternoon. In each movie, though, there’s a problem. The Christmas village is facing closure. The beloved ski lodge with all its holiday finery is about to be snatched up by a greedy developer. A woman’s promotion is riding on how well she pulls off the company Christmas party. These are problems. And it’s what keeps us engaged for 2 hours — will the problem be solved?

You need to apply this same technique to your marketing messages. You have to talk about your customers’ problem or they stop listening. Problems make a good story.

How can you effectively talk about the problem?

The first step is defining that one main problem facing your customers or clients. I know it can be tough. You may feel as if your customers are facing several problems. And they may be, but you need to determine one main problem. Figure out the problem that’s most common among at least 85% of your customers.

Next, we’re going to break the problem down into three parts:

• External Problem: This is the physical, tangible problem your customers need to overcome.
• Internal Problem: How is this external problem making them feel?
• Philosophical Problem: Why is it just plain wrong that your customers are dealing with this problem?

Remember, people often make buying decisions based on emotion. They also make buying decisions to avoid pain (we call that loss aversion). Defining the internal problem is an important piece of your marketing message. You want to tap into that emotional response as you talk about the problem your customer is facing.

Now, nudge the problem some more from a philosophical standpoint. Think about this as an injustice. If you’re struggling to define the philosophical problem, try looking at it from the perspective of what your customer deserves.

Let’s look at an example of a nutrition coach working with clients to develop meal plans and healthy eating habits. The external problem is that people know they need to eat healthy but they aren’t sure where to turn or how to sort through the tons of diets and information. This problem makes them feel confused, discouraged and like giving up on the whole idea (internal problem). Healthy eating shouldn’t be so complicated and they deserve a plan that is simple to follow and sets them up for success (philosophical problem).

Once you’ve identified the three areas of your customer’s problem, start talking about it. Often businesses avoid talking about the problem because they don’t want to come off as too negative. But, remember, when you stop talking about a customer’s problem, they stop listening. Problems make a good story.

Plus, when you’re not talking about the problem, it makes it harder to introduce your business as the solution to that problem.

Do a problem audit: look at your website and make a note of every time you talk about the problem. Look at a month’s worth of social media posts and email campaigns – how many times did you reference the problem? I’m guessing the answer is: not enough.

I recently heard Donald Miller, author of “Building a StoryBrand,” say that the problem is like the cowbell. And you can always add more cowbell.