Bryan Clayton, CEO of GreenPal, provides a perfect example of the importance of the right business value proposition, one that gets potential customers to say yes. GreenPal is an app that helps people get five lawn care bids from local professionals. Bids are free and arrive quickly; people can also pay for their lawn care services online.
Initially, Bryan and his partners believed that people would use their service because they can choose the most reasonably priced bid and therefore save money on lawn care. To get their initial set of customers, they created 10,000 door hangers and placed them on front doors. About one in every 100 people responded and the GreenPal team met with as many as possible to discuss their needs. What they discovered actually disproved their foundational assumptions about value propositions. These customers weren’t as concerned with price as expected. Instead, they greatly appreciated speedy service and, perhaps even more important, the convenience of the app.
Bryan continued to test this value proposition via Google AdWords and Facebook ads—and convenient same-day service was clearly the most effective and compelling portion of GreenPal’s value proposition, one that drives more visitors and captures more conversions.
“You need to pursue the iterative process,” Bryan explains, “to understand the elements of a customer saying yes. This process consists of quantitative and qualitative steps. At first, it may make sense to ask your team why the ideal prospect would buy from you rather than from your competition. In our case, our competition also consisted of the status quo, perhaps of doing your own lawn care when you had extra time or calling your buddy from church.”
This process may lead to a list of five to 10 different business value proposition possibilities that can be tested in messaging. If one message, for example, produces a 10 to 20 percent lift, then this quantitative evidence is something worth testing qualitatively by talking to customers about that particular value proposition. “The goal,” Bryan shares, “is to look at the situation from customer logic rather than business logic. Once the right messaging is confirmed, meaning once quantitative testing and qualitative research meshes, then this message needs to be reinforced throughout communications with customers.”
Continue to Monitor for Changes
This process is not a one-and-done deal. “Tech companies, as just one example,” Bryan says, “target messaging at first to early adopters, to get the initial critical mass needed to validate the product and/or service. As the company grows, the messaging needs to change along with the targeted prospects. Here’s an example. Uber started by promoting customers’ ability to get a ride in a luxury car within minutes, with a personal chauffeur. This messaging clearly evolved as the business grew—and that’s not unusual. Just make sure your messaging remains congruent with customer problems and expectations.”
Need Help Testing Your Unique Value Proposition?
Google AdWords is an ideal way to measure the success of messaging. That’s because the pay per click model allows you to test a variety of keywords—therefore, a spectrum of messaging—without compromising your site’s SEO. You can safely and effectively veer away from your site’s core keywords using pay per click to explore new messaging opportunities. What you find out can then inform your organic SEO and other business communications going forward.
Find out more about our pay per click management services. Then, let’s talk!
Chris Gregory
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