You’ve heard a lot over the last few years about the need to wrap your marketing around stories. I get it. I love a story as much as anyone. But I’m seeing a trend to misuse this concept and, as a result, mangle your message.
Stories have their place. They help you communicate a new idea or share a message. But stories shouldn’t be your idea or message.
That’s my rant. Now let me explain.
Only 3 things are needed for effective marketing
- message
- medium
- market
Your message is the core idea behind your business, your value statement or USP. A story may help you frame the idea. But keep in mind, it isn’t the idea itself.
I say that, knowing full well that we use “story” as a way to talk about what we do. We talk about telling our story and sharing our message. But in both cases, we are talking about the USP, the selling point, framed for a particular audience, crafted to attract their attention and drive action.
Story, message, USP, idea—no matter how you talk about it, it’s really your message. My suspicion is that, since we use different words at different times, we start to believe they’re separate and distinct elements within our message. When that happens, we complicate things.
Here are my thoughts on the subjection, including some tips for injecting emotion into your marketing and finding a powerful value statement that tells your story as simply (and quickly) as possible.
Clarity trumps all
No matter what your product, where you sell it, or who you sell it to, your customers are busy. They don’t have time for a lengthy, convoluted sales message. They want you to get to the point, and they want to hear your bottom-line message in as few words as possible.
Let’s look at a few examples of companies that have done this well.
Positionly: SEO Software. Built for people.
ConversionXL: Your Website Is Like A Leaky Bucket. And It’s Leaking Money.
KISSmetrics: Google Analytics tells you what’s happening. KISSmetrics tells you how to optimize it.
Grasshopper: Turn the World Into Your Office ® Grasshopper lets you run your business using your cell phones!
Compelling, aren’t they?
These brands didn’t take a lot of time to tell us what they do or how they can help us. Their value statement is short, to the point, and clear. I know I’ll get SEO software that’s easy to use from Positionly and a more profitable website from ConversionXL. Boom. That’s all I need.
Frankly, if I’m in the market for those things, I don’t need a story to get me more engaged. If anything, it will slow me down, and that’s just irritating.
To a hot prospect, the most important message is a clear, concise value statement.
Emotion isn’t your target; people are
The concept of “story” instead of “message” was probably developed as a solution to dry, boring marketing. Stories are naturally interesting, so they can get people engaged quickly. And stories are emotional, so they ramp up the emotional power of your message quickly.
But just as hype feels false, so can story.
Advocates of stories in marketing can easily get fixated on story for the sake of story. When that happens, story becomes the target, rather than your audience. The story, at that point, isn’t real or relevant; it’s there because you’re supposed to have one.
Stories are great. But they aren’t the center of your marketing. A clear, concise value statement is.
Do you need a boost of emotion? No. You especially don’t need manufactured emotion. Nothing is more of a turn-off.
All you need is to care about your topic, because your passion creates energy, which then seeps into your words. Energy, not emotion, attracts your customers.
Your prospects want to see a company that’s passionate about what they do, that practices what they preach, that’s transparent and credible. So your job is easy—if you believe in what you do. Let your passion shine through. Don’t mess it up by trying to inject emotion into it.
The real question: What value do you deliver?
If you don’t already know the answer to this question, you’ve got a challenge ahead of you. You must find the answer if you’re going to effectively market your business.
I know how challenging it can be to nail down your true value. And while I urge you to begin the process of identifying it, I also want to caution you. Your USP or value statement it isn’t a one-time activity. Even after you create it, you’ll likely tweak it over time, testing new ways of saying it, and updating it as your business evolves.
So how do you create a strong value statement? Here’s one way to approach it.
Finding your value
To begin this process, you need to identify the deep benefit of doing business with you. This has little to do with the product or service you provide, which could be considered a commodity. Instead, it has to do with the intangible benefits of working with you rather than your competition.
Let’s look at Zappos as an example. Since they’re known for selling shoes, they don’t waste space explaining their business. Instead, they use a value statement as their tag line. Look at their logo.
There’s no mention of shoes. Just their deep benefit: Powered by Service.
The thing that sets Zappos apart from all other shoe stores is their commitment to service, so they turned that into their value statement. In essence, they don’t sell shoes. They provide service.
To be clear, I don’t love this, because it assumes that people know they sell shoes. But I do like that they isolate the unique thing they provide that no one else offers. Their claim to fame is the best possible service in the shoe industry. They own it, and that sets them apart.
A better way is to find a deep benefit related to your product. Like the examples I provided above, try to explain the essence of what you provide in 25 words max.
Spell it out. Keep it short. Keep it simple.
Now you do it
Let’s begin by finding your deep benefit.
Try to explain, as concisely as possible, what you provide your customers. Now ask yourself, Why is that important?
Keep answering and asking why until you run out of answers. At some point, you’ll throw your hands in the air and say, “It just is.” That’s your deep benefit.
Now, that may or may not translate into a value statement, but it will certainly get you started. Until you know the deep benefit of working with you, you can’t effectively talk about your product or service.
Creating a value statement
Try to create a short statement that conveys what you do and how it benefits people. Look for something as simple as Positionly’s and ConversionXL’s statements.
The idea is to capture the essence of your value in one short statement. You’re looking for a big idea, not a story.
One word of warning: value is in the eyes of your customer, not your CEO. You may think XX is your biggest value, and your customer may not care about that at all. To him, YY is the most incredible thing on the Web.
That said, your early attempts at stating your value may miss the mark. Until you get some feedback, you are guessing. That’s okay. As long as you’re listening to your customers and continually refining your messaging, you’re on the path to finding the right message.
And it may come to you in a surprising way. One day, your copywriter may write a paragraph that has the value statement hidden in the last line. Or a happy customer will send you an email that has the magic phrase in the second sentence. You may be talking to a colleague, comparing notes, and he may make a casual statement that clarifies things for you.
The idea is to get other people’s input on who you are and what you do. Craft a simple statement that quickly and clearly communicates it. Then put it on your website. It should be the first thing people see when they arrive at your site.
The focus is value, clearly communicated. Period.
