If marketing is not based on sound strategy it will never be successful.
Strategy can be challenging; a good one should be deceptively clear and simple, but simplicity is easier said than done! People say that an important part of strategy is actually deciding what NOT to do!
This process of taking things off the table can be confronting. Because committing to fewer, better-defined things means you’re more accountable to them.
InsideOut Group is committed to helping with this.
Whilst professional ‘outside eyes’ are crucial in strategic development to provide a broad, objective viewpoint, it’s equally important you do your own share of the thinking – nobody should ever impose a strategy on you that doesn’t feel right. So we’re developing a series of easy-to use tools that guide you in thinking through some key strategic decisions.
DEFINING YOUR CUSTOMER VALUE PROMISE
Marketing is “a consistent set of promises to people who want to hear them” (Seth Godin).
These promises are the basis of all customer-facing marketing communications – they answer the question, “Why should I choose you over your competitors?” They are also powerful inside your business.
So they need to be clearly articulated in a way that’s powerfully persuasive and has cut-through. We call this articulation the Compelling Value Promise or CVP.
This tool helps you create a CVP.
IDENTIFYING YOUR MARKET POSITIONING
Positioning is about helping the people you hope to serve to understand how you can help fill their need better than others can. It provides a guide or comparison for people to understand how your business or product differs relative to things they already know. E.g. we are a chocolate bar with nuts or a luxury car with higher safety levels.
To determine a market position you need to map all the competitors against customers’ wants or needs, and see if you can find clear-space.
This tool helps you do examine your positioning options.
SOURCE OF GROWTH
Hold up your right hand and curl your thumb down.
You’re looking at the total number of possible sources of growth for your business. Any business.
That’s it. Just four. So, strategy-wise, it’s simply a question of deciding how you allocate your effort and resources across the four sources of growth.
This tool will help you.
CALCULATE YOUR SMALLEST VIABLE MARKET
Could Fewer Customers be the Key to Success?
Having fewer customers is actually a fantastic growth strategy for a business. The secret is identifying the ‘Smallest Viable Market’ (SVM), and you’ll be surprised about the upsides…. increased efficiency, stability and profitability being three.
You can read more about them here, which also guides you how to think about this. Plus we’ve created a tool to help you calculate your own SVM.
