Storytellers

This is a three part series on our approach to marketing which identifies three decision gates through which a customer journeys before buying, and the marketing work that goes into making the story a successful one.

I cut my teeth in Silicon Valley marketing. If ever there was a place with a field of dreams mentality, this is it. But in reality, the underlying premise, “if you build it, they will come”, isn’t true. If you’re like me, you’ve learned lessons from your past missteps and outright flops and know there are ways to tell a marketing story that successfully leads sales.

 

Businesses, whether startups and aspiring small business, or established brands looking for a new breakout product or relaunch, first, fall in love with their solutions and second, presume customers will as well.  As a result, many businesses under-invest in marketing during the planning process. They consider marketing a cost that can be cut out rather than an investment to be made. And they mis-appropriate the dollars that are set aside for marketing.

 

I built The Optrian Marketing Methodology to address this. The methodology includes tools that help identify and prioritize the marketing spending plan, given whatever budget is set, and lays the foundation for the marketing strategy that addresses journey people take through decision “gates” before they buy. There are three premises in the methodology:

 

Premise #1:  People buy products or services that have the features they need

Premise #2:  People buy from people they perceive to be like them

Premise #3:  People buy on emotion

 

The marketing strategies, whether its product marketing, identifying the right product or service; channel marketing, motivating and equipping a channel to sell; or marketing communications, branding and positioning the product, have to address the premises.

 

The Optrian Marketing Methodology builds marketing strategies and go-to-market plans that address the decision-making journey of the person who is buying and the needs of the people selling to your intended customer.  Customers will journey through three gates before they decide to buy. Your making story has to satisfy them at each gate and move them to the next. Here’s the first part of the journey:

 

Gate #1:  The Logical Gate is 20-25% of the Buyer’s Decision Criteria

This is the first gate addresses the first premise that a buyer goes through on their journey to making a purchase.  It’s the classic features/benefits/checklist.  If your customer wants a blue-ink pen, and you have a red-ink pen, they aren’t going through that gate.  Move on or change your offering. Don’t waste resources pushing a sale that has little chance of happening, and if it does, it likely won’t have much customer satisfaction or return loyalty.

 

For many companies, the Logical Gate is their story, placing 55-70% of their marketing and sales efforts on “what” it is they’re selling. In the Optrian Marketing Method, your go-to-marketing strategy weights the importance of this gate in the 20-25% range of importance to your customer.  We make it more effective by not only articulating the features, but also knowing the benefits and why it matters to your customer.  The Logical Gate of not only answers “what”, but also answers “so what, who cares”.

 

If your customers accepts that you have the right product and agree with the benefits, they pass through the first gate and you’re 20-25% of the way to convincing them to buy from you.

 

The next installment of this story will take you through the second gate.

 

Learn more about the Optrian Marketing Methdology.    Contact Creor Group at solutions@creorgroup.com or 877-774-4312 to arrange a complimentary consultation for your business.