At Grove9, we find the saying “knowledge is power” to be true. One way to increase your organization’s performance is by working on five key knowledge areas: industry, products and services, audience pain points, audience communications platforms, and messaging.
1. Know Your Industry
You’ve got to put in the time to know your industry. Research and study your overall industry – or hire an organization to provide you with a comprehensive analysis of your industry by customer groups and segments. You need to know who your competitors are, and what you have to offer that they don’t! For nonprofits, you’ll want to look at similar mission-related organizations as well as other nonprofits that are competing for resources and funding.
2. Know Your Products and Services
Your team needs to know why your products or services matter. Your marketing and sales teams are the product and services experts. They need to be able to be enthusiastic and passionate about how each product and service will improve the life of a potential customer. Don’t forget to include them as you develop new products or services – they will be instrumental in the launch.
3. Know Your Audience Pain Points
Your potential customers or clients have problems they want to solve. Understanding these pain points can become an opportunity or lead to a product innovation for your organization. There are several ways your marketing and sales teams can get to know your audience’s pain points through online surveys, social media engagement, polls, one-on-one customer conversations, and live chats. Do the work of asking good questions to uncover the root of the pain point.
4. Know Your Audience’s Ideal Communications Platforms
Know who you are speaking to and where they like to have conversations. Identify your ideal customer by creating a fictional customer persona of your target audience based on information from your best customers. Once you know who your ideal audience is, use your social media platforms to see if your ideal customer matches who you are currently connecting with. If your current social followers don’t match the ideal audience, it’s time to connect and invite.
5. Know Your Messaging
Be able to explain – quickly – what you’re about. Every organization needs to develop its 60-second elevator pitch to clearly communicate what their organization does, what problem it solves, and why it’s different. Brand messaging is how your brand communicates its unique value proposition and personality. Once you’ve honed in on your brand messaging, make sure everyone in your organization knows it. You want them to be able to quickly share the same message when asked.
Would your organization benefit from some help with these five knowledge areas? Our proven 360º Brand Survey™ and Lean Marketing Plan™ can help you clarify your brand, focus your objectives, craft on-target messaging, and develop strategies to unlock growth and accelerate your impact because your mission matters.
