Most businesses do a number of things – multiple products, services and markets. So you want to make sure you are talking about as much of this as possible in your marketing communications so as many people as possible know as much about you as possible ... right?

Well there is a problem with this. In terms of advertising we are taught to have a ‘single minded proposition’ to be specific about what the campaign should achieve and the specific message it is communicating.

This ‘clash’ of principles is one of the most common I come across, especially for SME businesses. They want their marketing budget to stretch as far as possible so they try and make every activity have as broad appeal as possible. The result, all too often is bland, confusion and lacking impact.

Wrapped up in this problem are actually a number of issues –

• The lack of a clear single minded proposition
• The inability to segment the business in terms of different audiences and their needs
• The ability to define where the marketing investment will reap the best rewards
• Understanding the interconnectivity of all marketing activities

This particular can of worms I think needs a number of blogs so I will just focus on the first to start with.

The lack of a clear single minded proposition

Let’s get back to basics.

Saying less, more often will get you heard.

If your business is continually associated with a few key things then you are more likely to lodge in people’s brains and be font of mind. As humans we have the ability to only keep short, simple facts in our brain. That’s why advertising is built on catchy headlines, soundbites and jingles.

But we do lots of different things, I hear you cry. How can we possibly just talks about a few of them? A proposition is not about what you do, it is about what your business is about – your ‘unique’ benefits of using your company or brand.

Here’s a good starting point –

1. What are the 3 things you want to be known for?
2. What are the 3 things you or your company are experts in?
3. What are the 3 benefits are your clients and customers left with after they have bought your product or service?

Three simple questions that are not easy to answer, especially if you are not allowed any of the ‘so what’ answers such as value, quality or service. Dig a bit deeper and establish things that will really make you stand out.

OK. Money where my mouth is - what would I answer for Kinetic?

Top 3 things we want to be known for?

1. Big brand marketing strategies applied to small and medium sized businesses
2. Creative solutions that look effortlessly simple yet are incredibly hard working
3. Advice that gives results

The 3 things we are experts in?

1. Integrated marketing planning
2. Direct marketing creative techniques
3. Branding

The 3 benefits our clients are left with?

1. Brand standout in their market that is professional and ‘joined up’
2. Improved sales and business performance
3. A sense of relief that they have someone they can trust to take away the pressure and stress of marketing their business

Elements of a proposition

Once you have this list you need to be able to put into a simple brand proposition or statement that defines your business (this is NOT a mission statement) as it is not an aspiration but rather something concrete.

In fact your proposition needs to stand up to criteria such as –

• Is it easily understood?
• Does it create points of difference from your competitors?
• Is it believable? Can you substantiate your claims?
• Is it based on customer insight, making it relevant and engaging?

It can help if you can fill in the following blanks

Company is   (a statement about what you do)

That                (what service / benefit do you deliver to your target audience)

For                  (who are your customers and what defines them)

So that            (what is the benefit they are left with after they have had your product or service)

So using Kinetic again as an example:

Kinetic is       

a small marketing and design agency with big experience and expertise

That               

provides an end-to-end marketing service and design with impact across all media                       

For                 

small and medium sized businesses who do not have the in-house expertise or resource to dedicate to marketing

So that           

they can be more successful and grow their business

Now this isn’t anything that would appear in this format in our marketing material. But it is a blueprint to our marketing activity. In everything we do we will refer back to this to make sure it fits and support it.

Does it prove our expertise? Does it showcase our design skills? Can we prove the positive impact our involvement has on our clients businesses? If it the answer is yes, it stays.

Now stick to it

The title of this blog was ‘define your proposition and stick to it’. I cannot reiterate enough how important this is, and how often I see the hard work done to define a proposition, put on a shelf and forgotten about. If you find that your proposition doesn’t gel with what you want to say and promote then you may need to go back to your proposition and see whether it truly defines your business. A good proposition should help everything fall into place and make consistence easier and ultimately more rewarding.

To discuss your company’s proposition, call Alison Clynes on 01472 269 016

Image by: Photographer suphakit73 at FreeDigitalImages.net