Where to Start with Marketing?

Where do we start with marketing? Should we focus on improving our website? How about posting more on social media? Perhaps if we have the budget we can do some traditional marketing such as advertising or mailing?

All these ways to market yourself or your business, but most people focus on the wrong aspects when they think about where to start. The focus should not be on what you should be doing but rather on our value proposition and how that makes you different from alternative providers.

The reason why we start with a value proposition is that you need to first identify what you are capable of bringing to the table. Without this, you can do all the marketing activities that you want and will yield very few results especially if you have strong competitors.

The Start of Marketing: Your Value Proposition

An easy way to start is to ask yourself this question, what is it that I can do that makes me a little bit different from others? Notice that I used the words "a little different" rather than "stand out". This is to help you not to overthink because the truth is that it is incredibly difficult to stand out unless your business is part of the top tier within your industry.

Once you are able to identify how you are a little different, you can focus on those little differences to properly pinpoint how you want those little differences to attract your ideal customers.

Value Proposition: An anchor to your business activity

The value proposition helps you anchor what your business does. There is no doubt that you have been asked "So what does your business do". To answer this question is simple but may not be easily memorable especially if your business is not unique. To anchor your answer or make it more unique, you can use the value proposition to explain what you do is important and valuable. 

"We sell coffee beans" + "What makes us a little different is that we have a fully equipped small shop for you to sample and learn how to make coffee".

Let your Value Proposition Direct Your Marketing

Once you have your Value Proposition, you can start planning out your marketing accordingly. Highlight what makes you a little differently while keeping the core of what solution you provide to your clients.