MARKETING THAT MOVES THE NEEDLE

 

Value Definition

 

In the business-to-business world the key to effectively promoting your offerings begins with a keen understanding of the value your products offer.  To the extent possible, that value should be expressed in financial terms in a way that impacts what the target market cares about most.  Meaningful value definition covers a continuum of value statements, starting with a general value proposition and culminating with a compelling statement that motivates action.   
 

Positioning Strategy

 

Also called Differentiation Strategy, Positioning is a strategy focused on favorably separating your business from your closest competitors in the minds of target customers.  It requires deep knowledge of your offerings, those of your closest competitors and what target customers prioritize as most important.  

Using Value Definition as a foundation, a good positioning strategy is one that successfully communicates a product’s value, explains why that value matters to customers, and describes why customers cannot get that value from competitors.  

 

Messaging Strategy

 

Effective messaging strategies are as much science as art.  Crafting messages that resonate on many levels across multiple buyers necessitates a comprehensive understanding of your offering’s value, your positioning in the market, and motivating factors of the buying influences with whom you are communicating.

There is no single good message in a strong messaging strategy.  Alternatively, there are several ggod messages that, while coming from the same value definition, vary in how they are presented based on the buyer being contacted.  The variances reflect what buying influences care about beyond the defined set of benefits.