Last week, in a meeting with a new client in Charleston, West Virginia, my team and I had a great on-boarding meeting with their team. The new client is a very reputable 20-year company in the commercial construction space. I had a few key takeaways from that meeting that I wanted to share with you.
The context of this meeting was the initial phase of our “Marketing Blueprint” that we use to discover the strategic audiences and key messaging to base our marketing plan on.
This was our team’s first official meeting with their team, and overall the session was very productive. One of the many takeaways, from my perspective, was our client’s comments about the significance and relevancy of the questions we asked to really uncover the story of the client. “Your questions are spot-on!” He said several times that morning.
So, in that spirit — I share with you the exact questions we developed for this project — as part of our company’s Marketing Blueprint and BrandStory process.
I hope you enjoy them:
— What does your company do? (please answer in 30 seconds)
— What problems do you solve for your customers?
— Who are your audiences (buyer personas) — demographic/geographic/psychographic
— How does your company demonstrate competency?
— Why should your customers trust you?
— Calls to action — What do we want the customer to do?
— Negative consequences — What is the customer trying to avoid?
— Positive changes — How does your company change their life?
— Value metrics — How will we measure success?
— What does the buying process look like?
As you can see, these questions are essential to not only understanding your customer, but also understanding what you do for them. Think about it this way: The customer is the “Hero” of your story. Your company is simply the guide that helps the Hero get what they want. Your job as the CEO, President, Marketing officer, etc., is to talk to the right people (your audience) with the right message. Therefore, a deep understanding of the answers to these 10 questions is the fundamental basis on which an effective, long-term marketing campaign can be built and implemented.
Finally, develop and believe in a proven process. The 10 questions listed above is really the starting point of the process my team has developed during the past 8 years. As you’re developing your marketing strategy and campaigns within your company, continually tweak and improve your process. And most of all, listen to your customers.
Success in anything is often determined by what we focus on. We win at what we focus on. So, focus on getting to know your customers and really understand how you help them win.
Think of your best target customer prospect asking: “What’s in it for me?”
As I continue on my mission to help people with their marketing and advertising across the Mountain State, I want to thank you for reading. If you have questions on this topic, I’d love to talk with you. Email me: jim@inneractionmedia.com
Original Article: Here