“We have this great product – why aren’t the people buying it?”

This is the age old question that many companies are faced with.  The product is revolutionary, it works really well and has received great reviews, and there are so many great benefits to using it – “Why aren’t people buying it?”

It could be as simple as developing or modifying messaging to resonate with the target audience so they “get” why the product is perfect for them, the pain points that it solves, and why they should buy it…. Or buy from your company!

Internal teams often feel they are best positioned to message the value of the product – they built it after all.  However, many companies fall into the unforeseen trap of using words or terminology that are not understood by the customer and talking about benefits that they feel the customer should get from the product vs. letting the customer describe the benefits and value proposition in their own words.

Here are some quick and easy steps that you can use to get your messaging on track:

1. Learn from the Competition and the Industry — see how the competition talks about similar product offering by conducting secondary research to review competition, messaging, and market drivers; look at key trends in the industry to identify pain points that customers are looking to solve.
2. Talk to Customers — talking to the target audience or existing customers can provide extremely useful insights into value proposition, perceived benefits and messages that resonate with the target audience.
3. Get a Cross Functional Team Together – take all that you have learned from primary and secondary research and map out what you have to offer against potential customer pain points.  This will be the basis for messaging development and a cross functional team will help to ensure that you have buy in on the messaging.
4. Develop a Messaging Framework – this will serve as your foundation and blueprint for all future marketing programs, materials, and communications. The framework should include key messages by target audience, positioning, and an elevator pitch to get everyone on the same page.
5. Test Messages with Target Customers – the last step is to take the messaging framework you have developed and test the messages with customers (target or actual); this will help you refine and tweak the messaging the teams developed and better ensure that messages resonate with the target audience.

By using these 5 steps to develop messaging for a new or existing product (or your company), you can feel more confident that the positioning and messaging addresses customer pain points and what customers really want combined with what you have to offer.

This process will also allow you to:

• Minimize the risk associated with internal stakeholders “guessing” at the compelling messages
• Tap into actual “buyers” that are going to purchase the product or service
• Help you learn what you don’t know that you don’t know
• Help uncover competitive differentiators in the eyes of the customer
• Allow you to “speak” to the customer in a way they understand and that generates excitement and interest from prospective customers
• Deliver consistent and compelling messages across all of your marketing vehicles and sales initiatives

And most of all, talking to customers in a way that clearly articulates the value of your product, in a way that resonates with their pain points and how they speak, should help you be able to say – “Customers are buying our great product!”

Karie Starrett
karie@clearworks.net

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