HIGH LEVEL MESSAGING Samples and Workbook

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1 HIGH LEVEL MESSAGING Samples and Workbook PERCEIVED COST PERCEIVED BENEFIT

2 P. 2 High level messaging workbook and samples Value Proposition A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer that value will be experienced. A value proposition can apply to an entire organization, or parts thereof, or customer accounts, or products or services. wikipedia Having a value proposition, also called a Unique Selling Proposition, is key for your business and communications strategies and developing your statement can be an exhaustive and involved process depending on the nature of your organization and its products. But no matter who you are, or what stage your business is at, going through some simple exercises can help you begin to get a handle on how you want to position yourself with your clients. I have found that one of the hardest parts of branding projects, from brochures to websites, is helping the client to come up with copy. The other issue that arises is the hierarchy of that copy. A brochure is much like the web in the sense that you need to convey a lot of information through titles, subtitles and bullets etc. I was looking around for high level messaging templates to use and came across Tor Grønsund s blog called The Methodologist and an article called 7 Proven Templates for Writing Value Propositions That Work. In this article he summarizes models created by various different people and provides some of the examples I have outlined below. I have found these templates to be very helpful to my clients who try to develop marketing copy and so I am going to share them with you. I recommend revisiting these exercises at regular intervals to check-in with your messaging and see if it still reflects the position of your company and products or whether it needs to evolve.

3 P. 3 High level messaging workbook and samples Value Proposition Templates 1) Geoff Moore s Value Positioning Statement For (target customer) Who (statement of the need or opportunity) Our (product/service name) is (product category) That (statement of benefit). For non-technical marketers Who struggle to find return on investment in social media Our product is a web-based analytics software That translates engagement metrics into actionable revenue metrics. Geoffrey Moore is a Silicon Valley based high technology consultant, venture partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures and author. 2) Steve Blank s XYZ We help X do Y doing Z. We help non-technical marketers discover return on investment in social media by turning engagement metrics into revenue metrics. Steve Blank is a Silicon Valley serial-entrepreneur and academician who is based in Pescadero, California. Blank is recognized for developing the Customer Development methodology, which launched the Lean Startup movement.

4 P. 4 High level messaging workbook and samples 3) Vlaskovits & Cooper s CPS Customer: (who your customer is). Problem: (what problem you re solving for the customer). Solution: (what is your solution for the problem). Customer: I believe my best customers are small and medium-sized business (SMB) markets. Problem: Who cannot easily measure campaign ROI because existing solutions are too expensive, complicated to deploy, display a dizzying array of non-actionable charts. Solution: Low cost, easy to deploy analytics system designed for non-technical marketers who need actionable metrics. Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits are authors of the Entrepreneur s Guide to Customer Development. 4) Dave McClure s Elevator Ride Short, simple, memorable; what, how, why. 3 keywords or phrases KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid = no expert jargon) Mint.com is the free, easy way to manage your money online. Dave McClure is an entrepreneur and prominent angel investor based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who founded and runs the business incubator 500 Startups. He is often described as one of the super angel investors. You can see that by working a few of these templates you can easily come up with some compelling value propositions.

5 P. 5 High level messaging workbook and samples Features / Benefits Remember: Features Tell and Benefits Sell. A feature is WHAT your product, service or community has or does. The benefit is WHY the feature is important to the person you are communicating with. A prospect is usually most interested in benefits and a seller is usually most interested in his product s features. Talk to your prospect and turn them into a client - talk BENEFITS. FEATURE Operates on common household electricity Within a day s drive of 60% of the US population In-dash GPS All wheel drive Gets more miles per gallon Waterproof boots Side impact air bags Decible range on speakers BENEFIT TRANSLATION Save money with no batteries to replace or buy Lower delivery costs and create higher profit margins Never ask for directions again You are less likely to get stuck in the snow Save money on gas Your feet stay dry and warm You and your family stay safe You can enjoy music hall qualiy sound Having 3-4 clear feature / benefit statements for your product or service will help you in all of your future marketing and communications efforts.

6 P. 6 High level messaging workbook and samples Andrea Butterworth - Owner CalliaMedia Clean design backed by years of strategic thinking on communications and marketing. Andrea has spent the last 10 years as a web publisher and online marketer for large organizations such as Bravenet.com, Beanstream Internet Commerce and more recently Resource Clips Essential Resource News. In all of her past positions she has consistently increased metrics relating to lead generation, sales, client boarding and retention, newsletter signups, memberships, website traffic, search engine results placements and more. She has developed and implemented marketing plans, reworked brands, increased brand reach, refined product strategies and discovered new niche markets and strategic partnerships. Andrea s visual and analytical backgrounds give her a great balance between knowing how to relay messages creatively and supporting bottom line business considerations. Learn more at: Request a Consultation I have had the pleasure of working with Andrea Butterworth for over two years and am happy to recommend CalliaMedia s services. Andrea has an enviable set of skills perfectly suited for today s marketing world. She is both an accomplished, skilled graphic designer and a tech-savvy online specialist. Robert Bick - CEO, Prima Fluorspar Inc