“Our end-to-end solutions deliver a continuous stream of personalized messaging opportunities that craft a customer conversation in which information is captured, analyzed, enhanced and influenced in “real-time” to deliver authentic brand experiences that drive loyalty and positive business outcomes”
Did you understand that? We didn’t either. It came from a website we came across recently, and we were surprised at how so many words fail to communicate exactly what this company does – what value it brings to the lives of its clients.
Your marketing messages must communicate your value proposition — the human need to which you are catering.
Your Value Proposition: Your Most Important Asset
Your value proposition is your most important asset for finding new business, it is the justification for your company’s existence. It defines who your customers are, the problems they are facing, and your services or products that help them fix those problems.
A value proposition isn’t just an internal document that only your employees get to see, its elements should form the basis of your marketing. This type of transparency will help you to signal to those in your target market that are experiencing the pain points which you solve, and it screens out poor leads, those that don’t fit with your organisation.
Customer tasks
Your marketing messages should speak of the tasks your customers are trying to accomplish. They could be functional (e.g. performing a specific task), social (e.g. be seen as an expert, gain status), or emotional (e.g. security).
Customer pain points
You must address the pain points that your customers are experiencing, like negative emotions, undesired costs and situations, and risks that your customers experience or could experience before, during, and after getting the job done.
Customer benefits
Your messaging could also address the benefits that your customers desire, such as cost savings, social gains, positive emotions or improved functions within their business.
Your product or service
It’s vital to communicate the products and services you offer that help your customer get their functional, social, or emotional tasks done. Describe how your products and services alleviate customer pains, how they eliminate or reduce negative emotions, undesired costs and situations, and risks your customers experience.
Most SMEs know their value proposition very well, they live and breathe it every day. But many fail to communicate it to their potential customers by using technical jargon or abstract descriptions (like the quote above).
Your customers are people, so ensure you speak to them in their language. Don’t let your marketing messages get lost in translation.
Consider performing an audit of your messaging on every channel that you use. Is your value proposition clear? Or is there a more effective way of communicating what you do? Does your messaging speak to the customer tasks, their pain points and their desired benefits? Are your products and services clear? What about the medium you are using to communicate it, have you considered using video?
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