Articulating the unique benefits we provide to customers should be second nature for marketers, but this is much easier said than done. Too often we get tripped up on the arms race for common benefits (e.g., “Our company is the most reliable … no REALLY!) or we fail to deliver benefits that truly resonate with customers.
Let’s table execution problems until after the holidays and turn for now to a slightly more existential challenge: what is your company’s unique identity? This may sound trite, but here’s a quick gut check: can you articulate it in 50 words or less? Likely not, and you’re not alone.
Marketers suffer from risk aversion. On the one hand, we try to account for all the wonderful and brilliant things our company can do. But of course if everything is important, then we inadvertently signal a bunch of noise to our customers. On the other hand, we squirm at the idea of alienating customers by claiming a benefit that doesn’t necessarily appeal to everyone. We settle for tepid, undifferentiated statements that every possible customer in the world would agree with.
And our customer experience suffers as a result. We have to be honest and transparent with ourselves about what really is—and is not—unique. Moreover, as we get more precise in our articulation of the benefits our customers achieve, customers that actually want that experience start to self-select to us. This will help us articulate an experience identity that serves as a roadmap for the customer experience we’re trying to create.
To refine your unique identity, start by thinking about the three questions below:
1. What does your experience need to achieve? Consider your company’s business objective as well as the broader experience vision, since it makes no sense to design an experience that doesn’t support the overall business goals.
2. Where can you win in the market? Take into account your competitive position in the marketplace as well as the unique benefits you want to deliver through the experience.
3. What is your customer opportunity? Start by identifying your North Star customers, or target segments you’re best positioned to serve, and then position and communicate all of this in terms of customers’ desired outcomes so they see why the benefits of the experience really do matter.
MLC members: see what this looks like when done well and check out our identity workshop for activities to help you and the team gain greater precision around a unique experience identity.
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