How to Create Your Value Proposition (Part 2)

In part 1 of How to Create Your Value Proposition, we covered the questions that your unique value proposition should answer. By now, I hope you’ve had time to write one up.

Today’s post is all about taking that message and using it in your marketing materials.

Where does the value proposition belong?

The simple answer is, everywhere. In every piece of marketing material that goes out, gets published, airs, etc., you should be touching on part or all of the value proposition that you’ve come up with. And it should be consistent throughout the various pieces of marketing collateral that you create:

1. Television ads
2. Billboards
3. Print ads
4. Direct mail
5. Online ads
6. Landing pages
7. Website
8. Emails

Since your value proposition explains to potential customers who you are and why they should buy from you, it’s the most powerful message you have. It’s what people are looking to find out when they first stumble on your website, and it’s what will resonate with people who are hearing from you for the first time.

Put it up on your website. Blow it up on a poster and hang it in the lobby of your office. Send it out as a memo to every employee.

This becomes the company’s mission statement, telling your employees and customers exactly what makes you so special.

How to Create Your Value Proposition (Part 1)

How would you describe your business to a potential customer who approaches you on the street? What if you didn’t have much time? What if they were about to walk across the street and ask your number 1 competitor the same question?

The answer, to those of you who had one, should be your value proposition. Every business needs one, and it should be at the core of all your marketing messages.

So how do you create one?

Start by answering the following questions:

1. What do we do?
2. What problem do we solve?
3. What do people love about us?
4. What makes us different?

The key here is that your value proposition should be unique. It needs to focus on what sets you apart from the competition, not what lumps you together.

Once you have the answers to those questions, write them out. Read through them and try to whittle it down to a few short and powerful lines of text. The goal is that you should be able to hand that message to a prospective customer, and with nothing else, help convince them to purchase from you.

Your unique value proposition is your brand. It’s who you are and why you matter. It’s what you do better than everybody else you compete with, and why your customers buy from you over them.

On Thursday, we’ll follow up with part two of this post, with ideas on how to use your newly created value proposition.

5 Reasons to Create a Google+ Page

Welcome to another edition of the “5 Reasons” blog series. This will be a weekly blog series, with a fresh post every Monday. Last week’s topic was “Five Reasons to Test Your Marketing Email Timing”.

This Week’s Topic = Five Reasons to Create a Google+ Page

So it’s not as new or as hot as when it first launched, but Google+ still has a role to play in your business. If you avoided getting involved early, you weren’t alone. But it’s time to forget about all the reasons you had for not joining when it first came out, and get involved.

Here are 5 reasons you need to create a Google+ page for your business:

1. Help your SEO. Google won’t come right out and say it, but linking your Google+ page to your website is going to make it more likely that people will find you when they’re searching on Google. It allows people to +1 your business, which makes it more relevant in Google’s eyes.
   
   
2. Add to your Google ads. If you run paid ads on Google through Google AdWords, you have some enhanced options available to you once you’re page is set up. You can add the +1 button to your ads, helping you stand out from the crowd of other advertisers who are bidding on the same terms.
   
   
3. Boost your brand’s search results. When you have a page on Google+, you are likely to show up on the top of the right hand side, within the paid results, when someone searches your brand.  Your business will show up, along with a logo and contact information. To see what I mean, try searching for “University of Phoenix”.
   
   
4. Tell Google why you’re relevant. In a world where Google controls a large majority of searches and referrals, it’s more important than ever that Google knows how you are. That’s why we submit sitemaps to Google, seek inbound links, and keep fresh content on our sites. And it’s why everyone should create a brand page on Google+ and link it back to your website.
   
   
5. Reach people who are using it. Not everyone uses Facebook and Twitter. Google+ has regular users who are in there on a daily basis. And you want to show up if they are looking for something that you offer within the network.

As always, if you have your own tips, please include them in the comments below.