With the advent of a new company, product or service, business executives must clearly clearly articulate key messages to the target audience, showcasing the compelling reason to buy. Before going to market, business owners must understand the demographics and psychographics of the buyer – their hotpoints, their pains and their pre-conceived notions.
1. Understand The Target Market
With an understanding of the buyer’s “pain,” appropriate messages may be crafted to resonate with the target audience. During the planning stages, it’s important to conduct research into the market. Professional market research firms can assist businesses with planning and implementing informal and formal research methods such as focus groups, surveys and other tools to gain insights into potential customers.
2. Identify Points of Differentiation
When examining the target market, it’s also appropriate to itemize and clearly understand the points of difference over other competing products and articulate your competitive advantage. Today, businesses attempt to gain a competitive advantage over competitors by offering greater value through lower prices or by providing more benefits to justify higher prices. For example, an emerging technology may offer additional functionality than other competitors in the contemporary marketplace, thus justifying and commanding higher prices.
3. Establish the Go-to-Market Positioning & Professional Corporate Identity
When the product is finally ready to go, the target market is identified and the sales team can clearly state your points of differentiation, it’s time to advance. Defining your go-to-market positioning allows businesses to carve out a clear, distinctive and desirable place relative to competing products in the minds of target customers. With this information in mind, the company may explore the development of a corporate identity package including appropriate logos, stationary, printed materials and website.
4. Understand the Difference Between Marketing & Sales
With an appropriate marketing communications strategy and supporting materials, sales representatives can carry the corporate message to the desired audience. But don’t confuse marketing with sales – or sales with marketing. For your business to succeed, the sales representatives must accurately transmit the value proposition, competitive advantage of your product to help you build the company and fortify the brand. Executive management must assure a consistency among the marketing and sales functions of the business to promote success.
5. State Your Message to Your Target Audience…and to the World
With the emergence of a new company, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to create a new brand. The hard work and premeditation that goes into the launch process can afford the opportunity to share the message with the target audience and the larger universe.
With the completion of the strategic marketing communications planning, businesses may proceed with the implementation of tactical items, such as: Developing a professional identity through graphic design, preparing brochures, product sheets, websites and other collateral materials to articulate your key messages, communicating with the news media about your business, identifying potential sources for leads, sales opportunities such as trade shows, special events and others.
Conclusion
With a firm understanding of your target audience, points of difference, an established go-to-market positioning, and clearly articulated messaging, businesses enhance their potential for success. With marketing and sales professionals rowing in the same direction, businesses will propel the proverbial boat forward to tell the compelling business story to the target market and beyond.