No 1 Marketing Rule

Don’t tell them what you do; Tell them what they get out of what you do

You must tell the listener how your product or service can benefit them, and how you can do it better than others who do what you do. Differentiation, niche marketing, and positioning. But what do these words really mean to you in your business? Usually they mean that a business will attempt to sell a product or service that is somehow different than the competition’s to a certain, specific target market. In theory, this is a great idea…

Welcome to reality. If your company is innovative enough to develop a truly unique product or service that is earning you a profit, the following inevitably happens: competition springs up from nowhere to imitate your product or service, undersell your price, and steal your market share. It’s immutable. Obviously, different is better than “me too.”

However when we talk about niche marketing the question isn’t whether or not to be different, but rather how to communicate those differences in a way that your customers will believe and embrace them. Your Real Opportunity for Innovation Lies in the Marketing.

What if it’s not about being different; what if it’s about making a difference (Value Proposition)

You need to realise three things about business to understand marketing. These three things are always true, regardless of what industry you’re in:

1. All businesses do just one thing: They Woo Customers – Period.

2 All customers want just one thing: The Best Deal – Period… However only 16% of your prospects or customers will consider this on cost alone, unless that all you give them to decide by.

3 Your marketing should do just one thing: Articulate Why You are The Best Deal – Period.

The most important question is does your marketing make your value clear to the prospect?

All advertising must make a proposition to the customer: Buy this, and you will receive a specified benefit. 

The proposition must differentiate; something competitors cannot claim, or far more likely have not chosen to emphasise in their promotions.

The proposition must be so compelling that it motivates individuals to act."           

A unique value proposition (UVP) can be a number of succinct, memorable messages that identifies the unique benefits that are derived from using your product or service as opposed to a competitor’s. A UVP should be used as a strong and consistent part of an advertising campaign. From these messages you can derive an Anchor which can be painted on the company’s cars or trucks, printed on the letterhead, and used in the packaging copy. It becomes, essentially, a positioning statement—a declaration of your company’s unique standing within the marketplace as defined by your product’s benefits. It should not just be a slogan thought up in isolation, it should be derived from the process of creating your UVP                                                                                                                                              

An Anchor works because of a simple fact of cognitive behaviour. One of the ways the human mind handles the barrage of advertising it receives is to pick something to believe, then hold that notion until forced to change. Snap judgments become permanent beliefs, since it is uncomfortable and difficult to change convictions once formed. The mind tends to filter out new information that doesn't support already held beliefs. This attribute of the mind, called "neuro-anchoring," explains why UVP is an effective strategy.              

Very often a UVP is a quick and snappy condensation of the company’s purpose but it's all about the positioning. You must understand that any decision to buy from, or use a company’s services, first takes place in the mind of the customer. All decisions we make are emotionally based and we then apply logic to that emotional decision, which manifest in a sales capacity in something we call objections. Your UVP messages must therefore make an emotional impact by positioning to the prospect why they want or need your product or service. Wither it be pain avoidance or pleasure seeking if you don't make the emotional connection through your marketing you will rarely succeed in your sales process.  Your anchor is also designed to keep your company, products, or services in their minds, so that when the time is right and they need what you offer the anchor triggers a memory. If your anchor is not effective they probably won’t remember you or use you.                

You find or create your UVP and communicate it over and over again to the right target market  

It is simply about being ‘perceived’ by the public as being different by how you make a difference and the easiest way to do this is to tell them through marketing how you overcome some general frustrations or concerns they have about your industry.

Example: Think of the top 5 concerns you may have about hiring a plumber; time; tidiness;  wont rip you off, etc. No imagine reading marketing from a plumber that specifically and upfront address these concerns – they have differentiated themselves and communicated their UVP, without actually have some kind of unique approach to plumbing.           

Determining your strategic position is to discover and communicate the following things:

• Why you do what you do
• What is different about you; How you make a difference (eg. overcoming frustrations)
• How you can benefit your prospects; what they get out of your product or service (benefits)
• What your services or products are (features)
• Who you are is the least important but make sure you have a strong call to action… View AIDIA Principles

Too many companies only market on features... Features must be turned into Benefits. A feature is anything you have designed into the product or service. A benefit is what the customer gets out of it. A feature may be useful, but it is not of compelling interest in and of itself. A benefit is a solution to a problem, a fulfilment of a desire.                        

People will not use you unless they perceive they are going to get some kind of benefit or they resonate with why you do what you do.. It is vitally important that you know the benefits you can give prospects and to be able to communicate this to them. When you speak to prospects or customers you must speak in customer language. You must have the view point of the consumer and talk in terms the consumer understands. Think of it this way. If your best customer were to tell someone else why they do business with you, what would they say?       

During Business Academy we will take this one step further and investigate Neuro-Marketing and Sales.