HOW TO DEVELOP A CLEAR, CONCISE, COMPELLING MARKETING STORY (PART 1)

HOW TO DEVELOP A CLEAR, CONCISE, COMPELLING MARKETING STORY (PART 1)

Whether you are a sole proprietorship or a Fortune 500 company, you have the same job to do. You must develop a clear, concise, compelling marketing story that addresses your customers’ needs and concerns. And you must use the elements of your marketing story to help you create interest for your products, move business forward and close sales.

 Customers rarely spend more than few minutes identifying companies that they would like to do business with.  If your company’s marketing story is not clear, concise, and compelling, it will not attract customers’ interest, and it will not enable your customers understand why they should do business with your company.  And if it is difficult to explain why customers should do business with your company, your company will be selling uphill.

When venture capitalists consider making an investment in a start-up company, the first question they usually ask is, “what’s the company’s story?’ The answer to this simple question can be as revealing about the potential success of a new business venture as an in-depth market analysis.  

Interest, Information, and Preference

Your sales force can use your marketing story to help them move business forward with your customers by arousing interest in your products, providing the information your customers need to make informed purchase decisions, and creating a preference for your products.  Investors like to bet on companies that have the best chance of achieving total market domination. And companies that achieve total market domination communicate the value that they provide to their customers in a clear, concise, compelling way.

Step 1: Identify the market factors that differentiate your company and your products

Anything that your customers need or care about may be used to define a new market segment or differentiate your company’s products from its competitors’ products. Your company may, for example, differentiate itself from its competitors by focusing on functionality, service, price, style, warranty, or any of the other factors listed on your “Customer Purchase Factor” worksheet.

Understanding the factors that impact your customer’s purchase decisions will enable you to respond effectively to competitive challenges. For example, customer demand for rapid turnaround has segmented the printing business between while-you-wait copy centers and longer-turnaround print shops. Many customers are willing to pay premium and accept fewer printing options to get their order delivered on the same day they place their order.

Step 2: Evaluate your company’s position in its market

Establishing a strong market position such as “value leader,” will help your company build brand awareness and customer acceptance of your products.  But it is important to understand that every market position has advantages and disadvantages.  If, for example, your company is a value leader, it will not be able to provide the service level that competitive companies that target less price sensitive customers can afford to deliver. And if your company markets to prestige shoppers, it may not be able to offer less costly products that appeal to a broader customer base without denaturing its exclusivity. In any case, your marketing strategy should capitalize on your company’s strengths but remain flexible enough to address changing market factors. 

Step 3: Identify your company’s most significant accomplishments

 Most companies that dominate their market are successful because they do a few things very well. Identifying your most significant accomplishments can help you understand how, when, and here your company provides value to your consumers, employees, and shareholders.  One of the most common reasons why companies lose momentum is that they lose focus on the key factors that were responsible for their initial success.

Step 4: Evaluate your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses.

Most businesses have both direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors are in the same business and provide similar solutions; indirect competitors compete for business by providing alternative solutions. Identifying the advantages and disadvantages of doing business with your competitors will enable your company to re-engineer areas of its business that need improvement, and to develop a marketing story that highlights its strengths.

Competitive Intelligence

There are many places to gather “intelligence” about your competitors. If, for example, your competitors’ stock is publicly traded, you can access copies of their annual report and their 10-K on the Internet.  However, the most effective way to get information about your competitors is to stay close to the market you are selling into by working closely with customers and reading relevant trade publications. 

SOURCES OF COMPETITIVE INFORMATION

Step 5: Evaluate your products’ strengths and weaknesses

Defining the strengths and weaknesses of your products will help you create an action plan for improving your competitive position in your market.  After you have identified your products’ strengths and weaknesses, you can map your products’ strengths to specific elements of your marketing story and evaluate what your company can do to overcome its products’ weaknesses

Part 2 continues in the next article

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