7 Ways to Use Your Value Proposition in a Marketing Strategy

7 Ways to Use Your Value Proposition in a Marketing Strategy

Understanding and articulating the unique value your organization delivers to your customers – your value proposition – is crucial for smart marketing.

In my previous post, I explained how to use customer interviews to determine your value proposition from the customer’s perspective.

In part two of this two-part series, here are seven ways to apply the value proposition insights gleaned from customer interviews to a smart marketing strategy.

1. Evaluate your brand. Does your brand reflect what your customers value most? If not, rethink your brand strategy and messaging to present an identity to the marketplace that’s both current and relevant.
2. Focus your marketing. Do you lead with your value proposition in every marketing channel? If not, it should be front and center in marketing campaigns and all your marketing real estate: Your website, social media profiles, advertising, sales presentations – every place you engage with customers and prospects.
3. Train your staff. Every member of your team should understand why people do business with you and what your customers value most. Share customers’ comments and viewpoints in staff training programs. Remind staff every day that the way customers are treated is a primary driver of your value proposition and brand reputation.
4. Differentiate your business from competitors. Ask customers how your business compares to other suppliers and you’ll probably discover consistent points of differentiation. Use these factors in marketing to set your company apart and show why you’re a preferred provider.
5. Use customers to tell your value story. Create and share stories that feature your customers talking about how you’ve helped them address their business challenges. Use interview transcripts to draft quotes from customers for their approval.
6. Build your advertising around the words of your customers. Hearing how real people talk about your business can help you break free from marketing-speak and the trite and tired clichés that drive so much advertising copy. Make your messages resonate by using the language of real customers in your advertising.
7. Target the right prospects. Once you understand the customer’s point of view on the value you deliver, take a fresh look at your new business acquisition and lead generation marketing plan to be sure you’re targeting prospects like your most avid customers – companies that are highly likely to want and need the distinctive value your business offers.

Our marketing consulting firm in Cleveland, Ohio provides comprehensive services for marketing strategy, branding strategy, and marketing campaigns, including executive interviewing and marketing audits. Contact us if we can help you.