In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the founder and CEO of Kexino, Gee Ranasinha. Kexino is a small business marketing agency. They started 14 years ago and since then have helped around 400 businesses, from all sorts of industries, with strategic marketing solutions. They attack every project from a business perspective and they focus heavily on messaging and value articulation. Tactics are overrated, as both Gee and Josh agree. You have to differentiate yourself with cutting edge strategy. Gee shares a few insights. For one, too many small business owners self diagnose their issues before even approaching an agency. They are mostly operating off of their intuition rather than data.  More often than not, the business owner hasn’t actually identified the root issue. The first mistake is trying to diagnose your own issues. You have to consult an expert, just like you would if you went to your doctor with a medical issue. Usually, the issues around websites relate to conversions. The issue isn’t just whether or not the website looks nice, the content has to actually interest your audience. If you aren’t saying anything worth reading, no amount of aesthetics will fix your conversion rate. The other issue is developing value articulation around the customer problem. Don’t focus on what you do and why as much as you focus on telling them what you will fix for them. Make an emotional connection by speaking about what you offer your customer, how you’ll solve it, and the deliverable. You need to tell them what they’ll be able to tangibly measure at the end of working with you. Gee shares that when a marketer starts with tactics first, that’s a red flag. You have to do strategy first, up front, to make a tangible difference and save money when it comes to your marketing. You have to identify the issue the consumer thinks they have and you have to be concise in telling them why exactly your solution can help them. If you articulate your brand narrative succinctly, you’ll see conversion. If they have to connect the dots or dig, they won’t see you as any more unique than your competitors and move on. The consumer is savvier than ever, so you need to stand out as their advocate and shining solution – you need to set yourself apart from your competitors. You have competitors you may not even know about; your competition isn’t just the businesses that offer exactly what you do.  You need to understand your competitors the way your customers see them; they’re comparing all sorts of solutions for the same issue. Want to learn more? Check out Kexino’s website at https://kexino.com/. Check out Kexino on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/kexino/. Check out Gee Ranasinha on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ranasinha/. Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:✅ We are actively booking guests for our DAILY Entrepreneur Success Podcast. Schedule HERE.✅ Are you a 6-figure consultant? Let us fill your sales schedule and move you to 7-figures. Learn more here.✅ Check out our free Authority Transformation Masterclass.