Value selling is taking the industry by storm. As a result, marketing teams are shifting to value-based marketing to better align with their sales teams and create a seamless customer value journey across marketing and sales touchpoints.
Here, we’ll cover what value-based marketing is, its many advantages, and some hidden challenges that you may not have heard about (and how to overcome them).
First, let’s take a look at what value-based marketing is. At its core, value marketing is about the customer. Value marketing prioritizes customer success and focuses on strategies that will not only exceed customers’ expectations but also convert them into ardent brand advocates.
The way value-based marketing works is by building marketing content and campaigns that build trust with your audience. How? By proving that you truly understand their needs and priorities on a deeper level – and that you have the capabilities to help them solve their biggest challenges.
There are many different models for discovering and realizing value with your customers. At Ecosystems, we use the Value Trinity™ as our value framework. The Value Trinity comprises three interlocking aspects of value: logic, emotion, and credibility. Humans leverage all three of these aspects in their decision-making processes: we all make choices through an emotional lens that’s also informed by logic and credibility. B2B buyers are no different.
Value-based marketing using the Value Trinity appeals to each one of these aspects of value. For example, on the logical side, you can use ROI and TCO calculators to help customers understand the financial benefits of your solution. However, numbers alone won’t seal the deal. Your marketing should also demonstrate emotional elements like how the solution aligns with the company’s vision and where they want to go in the future. Finally, you can appeal to a person’s sense of credibility by showing them why they should trust you to be a successful business partner.
There are many advantages to value-based marketing that make it a powerful choice.
Value marketing focuses on getting to know your customer inside and out, getting to the core of what they truly want and need. With this incredibly powerful intel, you can create more impactful marketing content and campaigns that truly resonate with your target audience and compel them to action. See our web value calculator to learn more.
Now, more than ever, customers do much of their pre-purchase research independently. They browse your website, download your content, learn about your solutions from peers on social networks like LinkedIn, and much more. As a result, your website and content are doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to generating demand and building a positive brand sentiment.
With value-based marketing, your messaging is dialed in and your digital presence is customer-centric, which allows you to start cultivating the customer relationship before they even talk to a salesperson. You can immediately establish your credibility and show them why you would be a great partner.
Value-based marketing isn’t just about getting customers in the door. It’s about setting the foundation for long-lasting customer relationships. When customer value starts with marketing and continues throughout the entire customer journey, your customers will understand the value you are providing – and continue to choose your organization over and over again through renewals, cross-sells, and up-sells.
Ultimately, value-based marketing comes full circle in that it enables you to build a network of brand advocates – in other words, your brand’s biggest fans. They are excited to work with you, and they aren’t afraid to tell the world. These brand advocates can fuel your case studies, create social buzz, and drive word-of-mouth recommendations, all of which solidify your organization’s credibility and the value you provide.
While the benefits are clear, there are also some challenges that are important to consider when implementing value-based marketing in your organization.
The biggest challenge with value-based marketing is that it simply cannot exist in a bubble. If your other departments haven’t also embraced a value-based approach, the foundation you built during the inbound marketing stage will not come to fruition, resulting in a negative customer experience. That’s why organizational alignment around value is critical to success.
To learn more about how to achieve this alignment across teams, see Customer Value Best Practices Throughout the Entire Customer Journey
Even if your teams are aligned and embrace the customer value journey, each team also needs the people, tools, and training to execute effectively. This often means supporting your team with training, as well as automating the mundane aspects of the job so your sales and customer success teams can focus their efforts on delivering the best value-driven customer experience possible.
To learn how to do this, see Moving Customers Through the Buyer’s Journey
For more information on how value-based marketing can work for your organization, we invite you to get in touch with our team of experts. We are here, ready to help.
Not ready to chat yet? Learn how to get started by understanding the customer value journey and building your customer value proposition.