I’ve blogged before about what I call “ultra-personal” marketing and what others call hyper-targeted: using personal information gathered either overtly from millions of social media site profiles or covertly from cookies that track your IP address and Web surfing activities in order to serve up super-relevant ads on Web pages. It’s a close cousin to contextual advertising, where search engines place ads on Web sites based on key terms in the content of page.

Whatever you call it, businesses need to decide whether to use ultra-personal marketing or not.

MySpace is certainly hoping marketers are willing to dig through the dirt their let-it-all-hang-out users dish on themselves.

MySpace’s own pitch for their HyperTargeting product says it all: “While demographics may give you an idea of what someone might be interested in, HyperTargeting tells you exactly what they are passionate about—dramatically improving the effectiveness of your media.” The page goes on to encourage marketers to “get granular” by using information culled from its users’ profiles.

But the backlash has begun.

Facebook re-jigged their Beacon marketing product post haste. Touted as a way for 7 million Facebook members to let their friends know what they are buying, it was first launched as an opt-out “feature.” After the MoveOn organization rallied a protest and Beacon customers like Overstock.com said they weren’t going to use it anymore until Facebook changed their model to ensure “privacy,” Facebook decided this week to make the “service” opt-in instead.

There’s an old security saw that comes to mind.

For privacy in the digital age, defense needs to be layered, requiring three things from those that come knocking for personal information: proof of who you are, proof of what you know, and something tangible that only the trusted possess.

For those who post the raw data of their lives on social networks, don’t use security software or use it poorly, aren’t disciplined about deleting cookies or other temporary files, or all of the above—they’ve opted-in, whether they tick privacy statement boxes or not.

So, Mr. Marketer: Do you risk alienating existing or potential customers and creating a backlash by tipping your hand about the ultra-personal poop you’ve already scooped? Do you hold back a bit to see what happens to others and risk losing a competitive edge by not diving into the sordid details soon enough, or do you jump in and hope you don’t mess yourself up?

If the media are right, many employers many not see as much productive output from their computer-bound employees today, Black Monday. Online shopping today is supposed to be the equivalent of millions of Americans shopping downtown, at the malls and the big box retailers. Certainly sounds better for the environment. But with free shipping allegedly being offered by just about everyone this year, what is making your Value Proposition too attractive to pass up? Let us know.

If ComScore is right, $700 million will be spent just today; so how are your selection and check-out process? Are they maximized for efficiency? How about your customer service? Have you posted an 800 number or other clear, super-fast (courteous) means of answering questions if shoppers get stumped, or need details they don’t want to hunt for?

And if 60 Minutes and Leslie Stahl were right last night, you might benefit from their finding that credit card shopping online is actually safer than shopping with brick-and-mortar stores when it comes to security, thanks to lazy or incompetent installation of WLAN (wireless local area networks) that use an insecure protocol called WAP (it’s been hacked for years now) to transmit your credit card information between computers and routers. All white hat and black hat war-drivers have to do is sit in parking lots and collect your personal information or use the insecure router to tunnel their way into databases containing millions of records. Now’s the time to take advantage of that sobering information and ensure your security is highlighted for shoppers – decreasing their Anxiety.

We’re certainly wishing the best to all of our business and marketing readers today.

If you have any interesting Black Monday stories to share – fantasies or nightmares – please feel free to share them when you get a chance (maybe January?).

I thank all those who have sent emails so far. All the questions have been very good, and I hope our feedback has been helpful for formulating better value propositions.

One really good question that has been asked so far is, “What do I do with a value proposition once I have one?” This is a very good question and I plan on adding it to my original list of questions to answer concerning value propositions. I hope this addition will help.

But for now, I will move on to my next question.

Question #2: What does not belong in a Value Proposition?

From what I have seen so far in email responses, the answer to Question #2 is probably the most important information marketers need to hear in order to get their value proposition down well. And I have learned that there are three mistakes common to most of the value propositions sent to us.

Three Common Errors of Value Propositions:

1) Product Explanations
2) Vague Language
3) Statements Needing Credibility

I will handle these errors one by one.

Value propositions should be more than product explanations. It is very common to receive a value proposition from a company that is only stating what that company is selling or doing. This in and of itself is not a value proposition. A true value proposition must not just tell me what you offer, but why your offer is the best choice for your ideal customer. Your value proposition should answer “Why?” rather than “What?” This really goes back to my last post, but unless you tell me why your ideal costumer should buy from you and not your competitors, you are not giving me a good value proposition.

Value propositions should be quantifiable and specific. When formulating a value proposition, you want to use specific and quantifiable language. Don’t just tell me that you have the biggest selection; quantify it: tell me exactly how many and the variety of clip art graphics you offer. Don’t just tell me your graphics are the best quality; give me the dimension and pixel ratio specifics that set your clipart apart from you competition. This serves two purposes. First, it shows more clearly your value over your competitors’. Second, quantifiable and specific statements are much more credible to your customers. This leads me to my next point.

Value propositions must be instantly credible. Here is an example of what I mean. To say your value proposition is “fast shipping” or “best customer service” is not something that actually differentiates you from competitors in the minds of your customers (even if it is true). The reason? Anyone can say it. Unfortunately, credibility is lost in statements like these. However, if you had a third party—an authority—say your company has the fastest shipping or best customer service, this would give you credibility and consequently set you apart from your competitors. Bottom-line here is to make sure your value propositions are credible or you will not truly be different from everyone else.

Note: Your value propositions must truly reflect who you are, not just who you wish to be. You will not be able to fix a product or offer with only words or third party ratings. This doesn’t work. “Your value proposition is not what you say. . . . It is who you are.”

So these are the three main errors marketers make when formulating value propositions. If you can avoid them you will be ahead of the game when it comes to formulating your value propositions, which will ultimately affect your marketing efforts for the better. I hope this helps. I will be standing by for any emails or comments you have concerning what I have said here. Good luck!

When’s the last time you read consumer reviews about your company, products, or services? What about your environmental record, or the way you treat your employees and suppliers? Are you making the world a better place every day or are you stinking up the joint?

Two recent surveys – one by PowerReviews and another by Bernporad Baranowski Marketing Group – reveal that a business’s environmental and social impacts and the opinion of others play a huge role in the purchasing decisions of a majority of consumers.

Nine out of ten shoppers prefer to buy from environmentally-friendly companies that make or sell energy-efficient, safe, and healthy products and services and that treat their trading partners and employees well.

Sixty-five percent of shoppers said they always read reviews before deciding what to buy and who to buy it from, finding those reviews very or extremely important to their final decision. Seventy-six percent also consult “top rated” product lists.

In a brief distributed this week by the Center for Media Research, BBMG founding partner Raphael Bernporad said “Conscious consumers expect companies to do more than make eco-friendly claims. They demand transparency and accountability across every level of business practice. . . .”

PowerReviews runs a Web site called Buzzillions.com, where almost a million customer reviews have been aggregated. The site lets shoppers compare products by brand name, category, or keywords. Harnessing this “wisdom of crowds” for themselves, retailers like REI and Staples are putting these rankings straight into their customers’ hands in the form of in-store kiosks or printed shelf-cards.

The bottom line: Consumers want to buy products and services that others recommend and from companies that contribute to the greater good. “Bad” companies or those that ignore the importance of bona fides are going to get coal in their stocking, not just during the holiday shopping season but all year round.

I have some bad news and good news.

The bad news is that you probably don’t have a good value proposition. I mean that in the nicest way. But really, the more I learn about value propositions, the more I realize how many companies don’t know how to formulate them. In 2006 (before I was at MarketingExperiments), MarketingExperiments conducted an experiment offering a $100,000 reward for the person or company who could express the best value proposition on a 5x7 index card. The vast majority of the submissions (over 400 in 4 weeks) could not even formulate a really strong value proposition. The details for the experiment can be found here.

The good news is that your competition probably doesn’t have a good one either. In that case once you develop a good value proposition you will gain an instant competitive advantage for you and your company.

Now, to answer my first question,

Question 1: What is it exactly that I am supposed to communicate in my value proposition? Is there a guideline or formula of some sort for this?

The main response I am getting to this question from the top dogs here at MarketingExperiments is simple: A value proposition should communicate the main reason someone should buy from you.

To get more specific, a Value proposition should answer three questions:

- Why is your product different?
- Why is your product better?
- Why are you the best choice?

To have a good value proposition, your offer must satisfy a customer need that none of your competitors is satisfying. Even if you are on par with your competitors in every way, you must have at least one thing that sets you apart and above everyone else. This one uniquely valuable quality of your offer is the heart of you value proposition. So value propositions basically answer this question: Why is your offer uniquely better for your customer?

To really get a grasp on this, I felt as though I needed some examples of what could make a product uniquely superior to a competitor’s. I asked around and here are two examples I received:

Example #1
Your product or service has a quantifiable and independently verifiable superiority in a key decision element such as customer service, product quality, free shipping, or speed of delivery.

- You have the highest rated customer service by a recognized 3rd party authority.
- You are offering a warranty that no one else offers.

Example #2
You have exclusive ownership or rights to an important product characteristic or component.

- You have a patent on an exclusive and uniquely effective approach to optimizing Website landing pages.

Finally, as far as I know, MarketingExperiments has not yet unveiled any formulas for making clear and strong value propositions. But they do have really good resources on the topic in the MarketingExperiments Compendium, the MarketingExperiments journal archives, and its certification courses. They have many key points to follow when formulating and evaluating value propositions, some of which I will write about later.

I hope this helps. So far I feel as though I am getting a better grasp on what makes a good value proposition. I will continue answering the questions I originally posed. Feel free to submit any other questions you have about value propositions. Also, if you have a value proposition you would like me to get someone to look at and comment on here, feel free to send that to austin.m@marketingexperiments.com. I will see what I can do.

MarketingExperiments’ parent company, MECLABS, has acquired a new sister company, InTouch, Inc. of Minnesota. CEO Brian Carroll’s company is a good fit for our group. MarketingExperiments discovers what really works℠ and InTouch discovers opportunities.

InTouch’s specialty is handling leads for clients with complex sales processes, keeping their funnel full with qualified leads by discovering opportunities and creating demand for their client’s products through teleprospecting. Instead of irritating potential leads with scripted cold calls and spam, their “teleprospectors” invest time and talent collecting actionable business intelligence and nurturing meaningful relationships with qualified leads.

Having been on the receiving end of many, many sales efforts — and I am sure I have seen and heard them all—I can honestly say that the companies that eventually got my attention and my consideration were the ones that a) respected my time, b) made my job easier rather than harder, whether it meant a sale right away or not, c) earned my respect, and d) stuck around for the long-haul. This is the type of “human touch” Brian's team cultivates.

By concentrating on building value-added relationships and earning the trust of potential customers through conversation, not campaigning, InTouch makes the difference in marketing success for the companies they serve. In these days of constant bombardment with spam, junk mail, and hard-sell telemarketing pitches the InTouch approach is positive and professional.

If you want to know more about InTouch, go to http://www.startwithalead.com. I also recommend downloading Brian’s free ebook, “Start with a Lead: Eight Critical Success Factors for Lead Generation.”

Welcome, Brian!