Every industry uses its own particular jargon. You have no doubt heard or read some of these marketing communications terms: value proposition, positioning and buyer persona, to name just a few. The question is, do you really know what they mean?
The goal of all communication is to be understood, so let’s define some of the concepts that often mean different things to different people. (Note: this is a handy post to bookmark or share with your team.)
Value Proposition
The unique, tangible benefit (or value) people get from your company, product or service. Remember that every value proposition must pass the “so what” test or “what’s in it for me? (WIIFM) test.
Positioning
How your company, products or services are situated in the minds of your customers or target audiences against your competitors. If your value proposition and messages do not differentiate you from others in the field, you risk becoming a commodity that is decided by price.
Brand
A brand is the promise of relevant differentiated benefits as they are consistently experienced by its customers. It must be ownable, credible, resonate, simple and conversation-worthy.
Buyer Persona
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. In B2B marketing, the buyer may not be one person, it may be a buying team. The advantage of creating personas is that clearly defining your target customer (or customers) allows you to better tailor your marketing messages to the people you want to buy your products or services.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action. Done properly, content should be created for each stage of the Buyer’s Journey.
Buyer’s Journey
A buyer’s journey is a framework that describes the cognitive steps each buyer must personally traverse leading from apathy (Do I care?) to commitment (How can I buy this?).There are three stages of this journey: Awareness, Consideration and Purchase.
CTA: Call-to-Action
By definition, in marketing, a call-to-action (CTA) is an instruction to the audience to provoke an immediate response, usually using an imperative verb such as “call now,” “find out more,” or “visit a store today.”
In addition to having a button, banner, or wording, calls-to-action seem to work better if there is a sense of urgency. Some of the more common calls-to-action are words like: Learn More, Subscribe, Download, Add to Cart, Share Now or Free Trial.