Month: December 2015

In your marketing, how do you know how to position your company?

Maybe you focus on your deep expertise. Or maybe you focus on your outstanding customer service.

But how do you know these point are your company’s biggest selling points? Do they really make your company unique?

Or are you just guessing?

Marketers like to talk a lot about the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The problem is that not enough companies understand what makes them unique.

I used to ask new clients what they saw as their USP…but I’ve stopped, because I was often dissatisfied with the answers. It’s just too easy to rely on a shallow USP, which isn’t particularly effective. So I changed my strategy.

Instead of asking my clients point blank “What’s your USP?”, now I ask a series of questions that I believe generate more honest answers. By combining the best parts of the various answers, we can fashion a more accurate, meaningful USP that resonates better with your clients. Could asking these questions of your own company give you a stronger marketing message, too?

Question 1: What about your products/services is most attractive to your customers, and why?

In other words, what is it that attracts people to buy what you sell?

Question 2: How do your products/services compare to what the competition offers?

There’s a surprising difference between asking a client how their company differs from the competition, versus how their products differ from the competition. By focusing on the product, the question becomes a little less personal – and the answers become a little more honest.

Question 3: What have customers said about your product/service?

Similar to question 2, but gets even deeper and lets the customer’s own words do the talking.

Question 4: What do customers say about your company?

Now we’re starting to get personal here, but because we’re using the customer’s own words, the answer has a bit more meaning.

And for the single most important question…If you ask yourself only one question, this is the one…

Question 5: Can you describe a time when you really made a difference for a customer?

Your answer to this question will lead you directly to the start of an amazing, strong, honest USP. Combine the truths of this answer with your responses to the other four questions, and you’re ready to go.

Since I’ve created this process, I feel the quality of the marketing communications I produce has skyrocketed. I’m always fine tuning things, however, and I’d love to know how you came to understand your own USP.

What questions do you ask yourself? Do they give you an honest answer?

And most importantly, how has a stronger USP impacted your marketing?

Send me an email and let me know!

I try hard to make the best use of my time.  I can’t afford to mess around with activities that won’t bring me a certain amount of return.   And that’s why, for each activity I do, I try to know precisely what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.  I try to think strategically about it.  I’m not interested in guessing or hoping that a strategy will work, either.  I want to know it will.

Unfortunately, too many companies guess and hope with their marketing activities.  This is why strategic planning is so important in marketing.  With careful planning, you get a whole lot more bang for your buck.

So where do you start?

Focus on your message first

Your message is the heart of your marketing.  Everything else about your marketing plan is just a tactic to get people to hear your message.  If your message isn’t spot on, then none of those tactics really matter, do they?

Don’t leave that message to chance.  Do a little strategic homework first.

Ask yourself:

1. Why do your customers choose you?  Look beyond the features that your customers like (and the features that you like) and figure out what the important benefits are.  For example, do customers come to your store because you’re open late in the evenings?  Late store hours are a feature; convenience is the benefit.  How many features/benefits can you come up with?
2. What marketing messages are your competitors using?  In their marketing activities, what do they say to their customers?  It doesn’t matter whether you think their marketing is effective or not; all you need to do right now is identify how they position themselves.

Find your Unique Value Proposition

Now, compare #2 with #1 and cross off any matches.  What’s left over is your Unique Value Proposition.

Your Unique Value Proposition is your core marketing message.  It’s an opportunity for you to differentiate yourself from everyone else in the marketplace.  You want to lead every marketing activity with this message for two reasons:  (1) it conveys strong benefits that matter to your customers, and (2) it sets you apart from your competition.

Now you’ve got the beginning of a well-thought-out strategic marketing plan.  Take it and run with it!