Four Powers Of Value-Based Marketing

This post was written by Atlanta Tech Village Member Jim Berryhill, DecisionLink Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder.

One of the great strategic advantages of value-based selling is that it demands focus enterprise-wide. When a company can clearly articulate the value that it provides customers, this becomes the through-line for marketing, sales, support and even product development. Just like individuals, companies are most effective when they focus on their strengths instead of being all things to all people. Honing that message, quantifying what value means broadly and then uniquely for each customer and prospect, as well as effectively communicating these value specifics can powerfully set a company apart.

In a world where work has become primarily digital, breaking through the clutter is increasingly difficult. Marketers have to do much more than simply capture demand. Today, it’s all about creating demand and ultimately sustaining it. That’s where value can play a critical role. By giving marketing efforts greater tangibility, value is an essential ingredient in interactions from the very outset. Leveraging aggregated value to highlight your product or service’s impact during early acquisition efforts lays important groundwork for tailored business value hypotheses as prospects move through the funnel. In today’s market, value can have a big impact at every touchpoint.

Prospecting With Value

Value is an essential resource when it comes to guided discovery. One of the advantages that value offers versus something like thought leadership is that it is quantifiable based on what a company is doing for existing customers. Instead of having to always find new, breakthrough ideas to build thought leadership off of, value gives companies the ability to use something they already have and know intimately.

By tailoring how that value is shared for different customer personas, target industries or use cases, specific marketing materials can be made more compelling and relevant. This positions your company as a trusted advisor much earlier in the process. At the same time, your marketing team can focus resources on those target personas that are most likely to respond to what you have to offer. No more trying to boil the ocean!

Using Value To Deliver More Meaningful Content

For customers anchored in value, having a platform that streamlines quantification of the value delivered is essential. In addition to more efficiently supporting sales efforts, today’s customer value management platforms can also serve as the data engine for interactive marketing tools like ROI calculators. These kinds of tools are highly differentiating because for most companies, gathering this kind of foundational data and empowering prospects to find results specific to their realities is challenging. Likewise, a strong customer value management platform simplifies the process of developing case study content which builds essential credibility.

With value-based content and materials, companies have the tools they need to drive better engagement. Interactive calculators can help increase traffic. Data-rich materials and case studies can help reduce bounce rates. And with tailored marketing materials that deliver more relevant information, value makes it possible to improve conversion. A value-based marketing strategy delivers tangible results across the board.

Tapping Into Value To Strengthen Lead Management

No matter how many leads your marketing generates, the real power of value-based marketing comes with qualification. By leveraging the data you have about existing customers, companies can identify shared characteristics that will make them much smarter about scoring leads. More than just the actions that a lead has taken in response to your outreach, customer value data can help you calculate cohorts and predictive measures using machine learning to build comprehensive lead profiles that can help maximize conversion when turned over to your sales team.

Creating Value Advocates

Finally, one of the most powerful marketing advantages of having a value-based strategy is your customers. When value is kept front and center, customers have a clear view of the utility they receive from your products and services. This transforms customers into advocates very organically. And, ultimately, peer recommendation is one of the most powerful marketing tools there is. From case studies and references to speaking engagements and social media, when your customers can share the value you have delivered, you have won the marketing game.

Jim Berryhill, DecisionLink Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder, is on a mission to transform customer value into a strategic asset. Read Jim Berryhill's full executive profile here.