Reba McEntire, country music singer and actress says, “Be different, stand out, and work your butt off.”
Most customers, current and potential, only care about what our businesses offer within the context of their needs. So as marketers, we must take the time to understand what our audience wants to hear, not only what we want to say.
Once we understand what our audience is looking for, we can create our business ‘persona’ and then determine how we’re going to position our business to stand out from the crowd.
Your Persona
As with any type of marketing, standing out is key. Just like the outfit you choose to wear communicates your style, so does how your business is reflected in your sales approach, or communications tools like your website, social media, thought-leadership, videos, your logo or office décor.
Standing out in a crowded marketplace doesn’t mean you need to be outrageous. What you need to be is consistent and aligned with your business values and your ideal client. Consider what will resonate for them:
- What is your natural style – relaxed, sophisticated, high-end, approachable, cool, cutting-edge, buttoned-up?
- What do you want to be known for – your knowledge, your excellence, your experience, your compassion, your insights, your client transformation, world domination? 😃
- What do your clients say you do? What are their words? How do they articulate what you do for them? Have you asked them?
- Do you have a special methodology or tool you use? Could this tool or methodology bring additional revenue as a separate offer?
Aligning your persona with your business goals is critical if you want to build your brand and increase your profits. It helps to shape how you and your sales and marketing team can encourage people to buy.
Positioning
Positioning yourself in your market refers to how you project yourself in the mind of your potential clients or customers.
Here are some practical tips for achieving this:
1. Know your target audience
Who needs your services or products? How does your offer benefit them? Where are they located? What social media channels do they follow or use? Who’s your competition? How are you different, or better?
It’s useful to build an ideal client or customer profile to draw on throughout the design of your marketing campaign. You can interview them directly or conduct surveys with them.
Here’s what to include when you want to build a profile of your potential customers or clients and their buying personalities:
- Age
- Location
- Job
- Income
- Interests
- Hobbies
- Priorities
- Goals
2. Create your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
People receive thousands of promotions every day. You want to stand out from the crowd. Your UVP is what sets you apart from your competitors. It explains how you create the services or products that only you can deliver. It addresses client or customer concerns, and why your ideal clients or customers should choose your services or products.
Your UVP helps you create tangible marketing and sales strategies. And placing it at the top of your website allows users to quickly understand your business.
You may want to consider adding a product to your services offer. Or a service to your product offer. This increases the benefits you can provide – and adds to your differentiation.
3. Use testimonials from buyer customers
People are more likely to buy your services or products when they have “social proof”, e.g. positive testimonials or reviews of your business. It’s a good idea to communicate with regular customers about why they love doing business with you. You can even post their reviews on your website or social media channels, with their consent.
Being clear and consistent with your persona and positioning is key to driving profits when building your business.
We can help you get there!
If you want to understand how you can use Persona and Positioning to increase your profits, book a complimentary conversation.
