Conveying the value of your product or service is a foundational tenet of marketing. Whether you are a mature company or a startup, understanding your worth and knowing how to properly communicate it to current and prospective customers is key to success. But as those of us tasked with driving marketing strategy know, this isn’t always an easy endeavor. How many times has a brilliant ad copy idea missed the mark? Or a fresh redesign of your landing page caused conversion rates to decline? Even worse, how often does it feel like every company in your industry is saying the same thing? Sending customers the correct message is one thing. Delivering that message while competing in a crowded market is an entirely different challenge. In my second article of this series focused on competitive intelligence, I will show you how to identify and communicate the value your product provides that resonates most with your customers and that truly differentiates you from the competition. Understanding your product’s value Before you can message effectively, you first must have a thorough understanding of the value customers derive from your product or service. In other words, what does your company enable people to do? Does it save people time? Does it motivate people to achieve their goals? Does it have therapeutic value or reduce anxiety? Thinking beyond your product’s use cases and into their broader implications is key. A framework I frequently revisit that helps guide this thought process is The Elements of Value , published by Bain & Co in 2015. This study defined the 30 values consumers care about the most and organized them into a hierarchy using Functional, Emotional, Life-changing and Social impact tiers. Their research indicated that the more of these values a company actually provides, the more successful […]

Read Full Story:  All about value props: How customer and competitive research should shape your marketing

Source:  MarketingLand