Make your marketing dance to the same beat…
We spend a lot of time working with businesses the technology channel helping them shape their go-to-market value propositions. A value proposition can be formulated for anything – an entire business, a specific service or solution, or even a specialism or business unit.
One of the key outputs of any value proposition development process should be the creation of a positioning statement. We’re often asked what this is and why it’s so important, so here’s what you need to know.
- 30th January
Succinct clarification
A positioning statement should be circa 100 words. It should succinctly and clearly articulate the why, how and what surrounding whatever the value proposition is for. Putting it down in black and white and using the right language, and to use an SEO term, keywords, is hugely helpful to clarify what you want to stand for. This in turn helps to improve the communication of your value proposition inside and outside your business.
While writing 100 words to illustrate what you want to say might sound easy, it really isn’t. It takes time, critical reflection, brutal honesty and some inspiration to arrive at something that is a true representation; balancing where you are today and your ambitions for the future. It’s nearly always a case of having to simplify something complex and multi-faceted, and that’s the challenge.
The code to build an extended story
Once you’ve got something you’re happy with, it’s not simply about flashing the words you’ve written verbatim in as many places as you can squeeze it (read brochures, website, emails etc.). In many ways, the positioning statement is more for internal consumption and provides the direction of travel for what you want to say to the world rather than a prescription for all your future output. It should be possible from the process of arriving at the positioning statement to pick out key messages that become the pillars of what you say in relation to your business/solution/service. These may spur on additional messaging copy blocks you can create to support further communication efforts or even become the cornerstones of marketing campaigns you create to help sell the proposition. The positioning statement is not about boxing you in but giving you the source code to build out your extended story.
Now for the important bit
The other essential reason for creating your positioning statement is to create consistency across your communications. The marketing activities you begin to plan should echo the sentiment of the positioning statement – ensuring all your communications dance to the same beat. If you start to veer away from the positioning statement you need to be asking yourself why – is it because it no longer holds true and needs a revamp, or is it because you’re now off message? For this reason especially, having a positioning statement is hugely helpful in planning and maintaining message integrity.
If you need help defining a value proposition or like the idea of building a positioning statement, take a closer look at our Value Proposition Workshop or get in touch to speak with one of the team.
Geoff has over 20 years experience working in the IT channel with resellers, distributors and vendors.