Positioning Strategy: Do you choose your customer, or do they choose you?
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Nov 21, 2008
(This post began as a response to Jeff P.’s comment on an earlier post. He asked, “do you choose your customer…or do they choose you?)
“Selling benefits, not features” is a mantra that is repeated often by sales and marketing experts alike in response to those seeking marketing help. At YML, we write about it a lot. One of the YML Partners, Sonia Simone even teaches a very good course on how to sell benefits rather than features.
This concept is taught often by many for good reason. It’s good positioning strategy. None of us purchase anything because of the features of that product or service. We purchase because of what the features of that product or service does for us. More importantly - we purchase because of what we perceive the features of that product or service will do for us.
Perception, as always, is king.
To go one step further: How we think about a product or service not only drives our purchasing decisions, it also shapes our expectations about that product or service and influences how committed we are to enjoying the product or service and getting value from it.
I happen to have the perfect example of the power of desire and perception. A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I decided to go to the movies. We had just finished up a tough week and were in the mood to relax and laugh. We were in the market for fun!
So, we chose a comedy that we expected to be lighthearted and funny. We’d seen funny previews for this movie and read rave reviews and fully expected to laugh and have a great time watching it. Well.. the movie was terrible. Absolutely terrible. And we knew right away that it was terrible, and we really knew halfway through that it was terrible, and we still stayed for the whole movie, which ended…. terribly.
As we were walking out of the theater, we had to ask ourselves why we stayed for the entire movie. The answer is simple. We really, really wanted it to get better. We wanted it to get better so badly that we held out hope that it might get better way past the point that rational people should.
Have you ever done the same thing? Have you ever been so determined to enjoy something or achieve something that you held on to it for way too long?
A couple important points to make about this example:
1. If you can craft a message that taps into something a group of people really, really want, they will work hard to really, really like it. If our perception is that a product or service is going to give us what we really want, we will try very hard to get what we really want out of it.
2. We weren’t really buying a movie that night. We were buying comedic relief. We were buying an escape. We were buying laughter and fun. The movie itself (the medium to deliver what we wanted) was incidental.
So - the original question was, “Do you choose your customers or do they choose you?” I have two answers.
Answer #1: They choose you - IF you have managed to be where they are, offering what they want, and can deliver.
Answer #2: You choose them - IF you first decide that you want to be the option they choose to get what they already want and shape your message accordingly.
Even better: Remember earlier when I said that “perception is king?” If the message you are communicating to your target market is in alignment with what people are already looking for, you can shape their perceptions of expecting an exceptional product or service even before they purchase from you.
BUT - your message must hit home with what they actually want (benefits) and your product or service MUST deliver what you promise.
With a well developed, relevant message you don’t have to do any of the icky parts of selling. Rather, your job is to connect and communicate and then deliver. Going back to our movie example, my husband and I were already looking for a comedy. No one had to “sell” us on wanting to watch a comedy. They just had to put something in front of us that had the potential of meeting our desire. We were sold before we bought the ticket. It took a poorly done movie to “unsell” us. And even that wasn’t easy. You have a better product. You can deliver.
So, what are your ideal customers really looking for? What do they really want? What do they really need? What are they already looking for? What do your products or services do that can deliver on those desires? Those are the benefits. Those are the hot buttons of your core message and they will have little to do with the actual features of your product or service. As long as your product or service delivers on what they really want, the actual product or service is incidental.
So here’s the big take-away: To be a successful business, don’t craft your marketing message around what’s incidental. Craft it around what is badly desired.
Your Successful Small Business (Under any and all circumstances)
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Oct 7, 2008
Two important questions:
Do you have an answer ready to this question, “What are you really selling, and how will your business offering fare during hard times?” (What you think you’re selling and what your customers are really buying are likely two different things.)
Do you, as this article suggests, periodically “review and revise your plan to include everything and anything your business or startup needs during a crisis”?
If you don’t have a solid answer to the first question and answered no to the second, review your sales and marketing plans now. Get prepared.
Over-preparers take note (you know who you are): Getting prepared doesn’t have to be complicated and doesn’t require you to create fancy graphs and charts, emergency food rations, and an emergency exit plan involving the national guard. (Although, honestly, having an exit plan is just plain smart under any circumstances.) Something as simple as adding different price points can also enable you to weather an economic storm.
You could create (or recreate) a product or service (and marketing strategy) focused on marketing to the affluent. This could also involve creating (or repositioning your current product or service) a successful small business around those items that just make people feel like they are splurging. (Again - what are people really buying? Evaluate the real value of your product or serice.) After all, no matter what the economy is like, most of us will still splurge from time to time. Often, even more so when we are bummed.
Can you add value and market to a higher income demographic? (Check this out. The affluent are definitely still spending money.)
Can you add lower price points and keep customers who want to stay with you but can’t afford you right now?
You may need to completely reposition yourself. For inspiration (and just a really great story), check out this article by Larry Galler.
Regardless, get prepared. Get prepared not just to survive but to thrive. Shifts in demand are inevitable. But, there is no reason in the world why you have to be at their mercy. You can, in fact, remain in control and view times like these as rich with opportunity.
Big Marketing for Your Small Business
Posted by Rebecca Blackwell on Oct 5, 2008
Read a good article this morning by Steve Mulder titled “5 Marketing Tips for Tackling Twitter”.
This article, written in September of this year, outlines 5 ways that marketers can use twitter to listen, communicate to, and better connect with, their customers and potential customers, and lays out great examples of large companies that are using twitter to facilitate this kind of intimate connection with their customers.
This spotlights an interesting (though not very new) trend, also discussed in a 2005 article by John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing.
Small is the new big.
In that article, John wrote that, “Large organizations are beginning to wrestle with the reality that their markets want something more personal, more honest and real, from the companies they buy products and services from. It’s obvious that small businesses possess natural advantages in this arena, so the rush is on to think small. Acting like a small business, it seams, is the latest killer innovation.”
This was true in 2005 and is even more true today. What’s more, new social networking tools, like twitter, have provided an extremely effective and efficient platform for large companies to act small.
The interesting thing is - these same platforms have also provided ways for small busineses to act large. Social networking platforms (like twitter) have leveled the playing field for both large and small businesses.
Large businesses can act small (connecting with customers, projecting a personality, reacting quickly, etc.) and small businesses can act large (reaching large numbers of people quickly, driving customer opinion, generating buzz, etc.).
If you are in business today, large or small, chances are your best advantage lies in implementing the same strategy. And that is new. Years ago I stated an opinion that consumers were tiring of the very large, impersonal type of business that have the distinct advantage of being able to offer a wide selection at low prices, but also have the distinct disadvantage of not really being able to connect with their customers and build the type of loyalty that only comes from personal relationship. Well, it seams that very large companies are finding the resources they need to retain the above mentioned advantages, while mitigating their impersonal nature.
At the same time, small businesses, which have the distinct advantages of being closer to their customers, creating strong customer loyalty, and can shape and adjust quickly, can now use social networking tools to reach ever increasingly larger audiences on the cheep.
So, what does this mean if you are trying to build a successful small business today? Simply that if you aren’t currently using the many social networking resources available to you now, you are missing out on an advantage that you can’t afford to miss out on. In the world today, it doesn’t matter if you are large or small, you have the ability to stay “small” and act big.
If you need a jumping off point for social media, check out this blog: http://pistachioconsulting.com/. If you need to figure out how to better incorporate social marketing into your existing marketing strategy, or if you simply need to construct a solid marketing strategy, better contact the team at Your Marketing Lab, Inc.
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/YML
