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For my regular readers (thanks for being one), I will be dutifully writing on marketing topics from my weekly BNI meeting presentations. There, I am given a mere 3 minutes to educate my chapter on something that will drive their business marketing. Here is where I will expand on the topic more fully for all readers. I chose to start from the primordial ooze of marketing - value propositions. We all think we have a great one. "Superior customer service," "State of the art system," "Family environment." Those are all very nice, but the pros know that there are plenty of customers who are saying, "So what?" to each of these statements. The most important question you can ask yourself is:
Why should my optimum customer buy from me versus anyone else?
If you can formulate a credible, quantitative phrase around your key differentiator, you will increase your conversion rates exponentially. Conversion tends to be used for online marketing, but in the case around a strong value proposition it will cross all types of marketing. The Goal: Have a brief, indisputable phrase that your competitors cannot meet or beat. This differentiator needs to be an area where you excel. It's okay that you match your competition on everything else as long as you do one more great thing. Quantitative vs. Qualitative: Most business owners are most comfortable with qualitative value propositions: "New," "Safe," "Best," "Friendly." Although these words are compelling when used in conjunction with other marketing they are subjective and elicit varying emotions in the customer - a.k.a. points of friction. These points of friction are many along the path to purchasing in the customer's mind. You must address these up front and with complete objectivity for your company's offer and products. When you use qualitative phrases: "Voted #1 in Sonoma County," "3 Generations of Experience," "We will spend at least 10 minutes listening before...Guaranteed," you eliminate subjectivity and increase credibility. (Of course, subjectivity can sneak into this element if the customer doesn't find the source credible.) Quantitative doesn't need to be numerical. It needs to be measurable in some way and indisputable. Do you now see how "New" just doesn't fly anymore? Measurability: Marketers love to measure. We even measure the effectiveness of a value proposition with formulas. I won't bore you with these, but I will point in the direction of my next post (and presentation). Once you have a value proposition statement that you think works, test it on the below grid. You need to be able to walk in your optimum customer's shoes. Rank your customer's desire level and the exclusivity of your offer. Plot on this chart using the key on the right. If you are in the Green section - it's not bad, but you can probably do better. Purple is what you want. [caption id="attachment_46" align="alignleft" width="340" caption="Value Proposition Measurement"] [/caption] Desire 0 = no interest 1 = possible interest 2 = high interest Exclusivity 0 = anywhere else 1 = somewhere else 2 = nowhere else Working towards a great value proposition will help in every part of your marketing. If all you do is nail this one marketing element, you are virtually competitor-proof. Source: MarketingExperiments
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