Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
“HEY, LOOK AT US — we’re different!”
It’s always tough to cut through the clutter, especially when it feels like everybody in your industry is saying virtually the same thing and positioning themselves almost exactly the same way.
The good news is that your communications team likely has the skills and expertise to hone and share your company’s unique value proposition – and really tell the stories that highlight your organization’s points of differentiation.
Here are seven ways to ensure your distinct story comes through:
Start by really listening to your constituents — your clients and customers, your strategic partners, your employees, your industry. Even the ones who offer negative feedback or constructive criticism. Especially them.
Take people’s criticisms or pain points and create content that can help address those issues. With the information you gather, you’ll be able to pinpoint and build content — both reactive and proactive – around the specific points of differentiation that set your business apart and give it a competitive advantage.
At the Edina-based PR agency I lead, critical listening is a priority. From client feedback to employee insights to industry hot topics and everything in between, we actively and consistently listen, allowing us to address both challenges and opportunities through our communications.
Then it’s time to take the information you’ve gathered and lay out a road map for success. Bring the key players on your team together to talk through what you want to communicate and how you’ll communicate it.
We recently put our own agency through the same process we use with our clients. Through this exercise, we developed a refreshed set of key messages and also generated numerous story ideas to drive our agency marketing. We use them as the foundation for everything from our newly updated website to refreshed collateral to client and industry events we produce.
Make sure what you say about your company aligns with what you’re actually doing by ensuring that your operations and communications are on the same level. If your clients tell you they appreciate your phenomenal customer service but have held back on doing more work with you because they feel your technology is out of date, look hard at elevating your tech game before you go out and talk about it.
If you’re going to start a conversation — and by extension invite scrutiny – work to make sure what you say on the outside matches what you’re doing on the inside.
Consider the areas and topics on which your company is an expert. Are you actively demonstrating that expertise through your communications? Do you share insights and tips freely with your audiences?
Or do you hoard them until they become paying customers? We call this type of content “thought leadership,” and are big believers that demonstrating your knowledge and sharing useful information with people who aren’t paying customers can pay dividends down the road.
Many of our clients tell us they see spikes in website traffic when they publish new thought leadership pieces and they also report that new prospects, customers and clients often reference thought leadership content they’ve seen or heard.
It’s more than just telling your story: Engage in real conversations with your audiences in any way that makes sense. Keep those lines of communication open and meet people where they are and how they prefer to communicate, whether it’s via user conferences, social media discussions, a print newsletter, webinars or in-person discussions.
Sharing your expertise can give potential clients and customers something they can actually put into action. One example: Last month we hosted an event that brought together journalists who cover med-tech topics for a discussion on the state of Minnesota’s medical communications, facilitated by our health and medical practice group lead.
Sixty clients, potential clients and industry partners spent an evening networking and learning, and all took home valuable, actionable ideas that they’ll implement to improve their businesses. We had an opportunity to genuinely connect with and get to know additional influencers in the medical space. Time very well spent for everyone involved.
Start-ups and established companies alike often struggle with wanting to be everything to everyone. Rather than trying to market every aspect of your work equally, why not pick three things to focus communications on in the coming year?
Once you have your key attributes or services identified, develop a suite of content around them — website copy, white papers, earned media pitches, collateral and so on. By going deep in a few areas, you have a better shot at “owning” those conversations.
Talking about your products or services and experience is important, but you can be a lot more authentic and personal than that. Let your audiences glean insights into the impact of your work by always finding the people in your stories, whether it’s your employees or those who benefit from what you do.
At the same time, communicate why you do what you do. Make sure your values come through and demonstrate how you’re making a difference in the community. Let your audiences know how you can help them, but also talk about what’s important to your organization.
Although it takes some internal planning and collaboration, you can utilize your communications strategy to not only tell your story but to help potential customers understand why they should choose you — and make your business stand out from the crowd.
