Ideal Marketing Company MD Jess Shailes explains why knowing the value you provide to customers is the key to unlocking your business’s success in changing times.
Are you confident about what your clients and customers really value in the service or product you provide?
I ask this question because at the beginning of the pandemic, most businesses were forced to change how they delivered their service and communicated with their audience. Often this involved increasing their online presence and putting systems in place as they strived to pivot, evolve and react to all the other buzzwords that were suddenly flying around.
For many industries, it was a transition to Zoom/Teams instead of in-person meetings and getting people set up to work from home; for others, it was changes like delivery services and adjustments to allow for ‘al fresco’ dining. Whatever the changes, business owners had to take a leap of faith that their customers would still come and their value would still be appreciated with these alterations. However, if a business understands what their audience truly values about them, change is less of a leap of faith and more of a level-headed business decision.
Using your value to create positive change
With this kind of insight you can ensure that any adjustments you make are still delivering the product or service your customers value you for – just in a different way. Having a clear picture of the value you provide means your business has an inherent quality control standard that will ensure value, brand and reputation are protected. For some businesses, it was better to wait out the storm than compromise on the value they knew was sacred. Others used their knowledge about what they are valued for to pivot their service successfully, in some cases even improving it. However, those who did not have a clear idea of their true value may have found they have compromised to their detriment.
For example, in a restaurant where the dining-in experience, customer service, and food quality are key, a delivery service probably will not work unless it is able to provide those same values and quality control. This is never an easy task, but as the rise of fine dining restaurants ‘at home’ boxes have proved, businesses that know their worth have successfully transferred the core values their customers return to them for to a delivery service which can include touches such as a QR code to download a restaurant playlist as well as the high standards of customer service and food quality their customers expect.
What makes your ideal customer tick?
So if you’re not confident you know what your value is, how do you find out?
If you understand your value properly, you can deliver it more consistently and communicate less about features and more about benefits.
To gain this crucial understanding, we use a process known as ‘audience analysis’ – which is a way to understand your target audience.
Over the last couple of years, we have perfected our process for audience analysis. It is now at the core of every marketing plan we design, informing everything from website design to social media messaging.
Here are some things to consider:
- Do you have a dream customer?
- How do you know someone isn’t right for your product or service?
- Do you have different groups of customers? What distinguishes them from each other?
Once you start considering these questions, you are on your way to creating an audience profile that will form the bedrock of your marketing strategy and decision-making.
Find out more
Start the process of finding out who your key customer is and how to attract them with a free marketing consultation.
MD & Head of Digital Marketing
Jessica has worked in digital marketing for over 10 years and has watched it evolve from an experimental marketing option to an essential tool for most businesses. She is driven to help businesses achieve their objectives using the best digital marketing resources available and recognises that each business is different. Jessica devours the latest news about digital marketing and is constantly learning in order to stay ahead of the trends for clients.
