In some of my earlier posts I described the three key tests for a compelling value proposition and how to construct one. The three tests are resonate, differentiate and substantiate. I have discussed our journey at NewzSocial to figure out our value proposition and how to sell our solution. We have made substantial progress on making our value proposition resonate (scale and unify your social voice) as well as differentiate (outbound social media campaign platform). Key in the equation is the ability to make clients believe that your solution can actually improve their business.
This is the subject of today’s post. Can you meet the substantiate test.
The question.
In a recent executive meeting the CEO asked me why prospects aren’t returning his calls.
The conclusion.
That conclusion is the fact that senior executives at US corporations do not believe that out bound social media campaigns will actually generate substantial increases in net new leads and web traffic.
Presenting my case.
The executive suite might agree that developing high quality content that demonstrates thought leadership can help build their brand. They understand conceptually that influencers and prospects must actually discover their content in order to engage with the brand.
It makes intuitive sense that if a company has invested heavily in developing their own content to promote their brand as a thought leader, that it would be wise to secure wide spread distribution of this content into as many locations on the web so that as many potential influencers and prospects can find and engage with that content. This begins the “conversation” that the client wants to have with you.
If you believe that high quality and engaging content can help build brand awareness and establish you as a thought leader then you should want as many of the influencers and prospects in your target audience as possible to see this content so that you can begin conversations with them as well. These intelligent and welcomed conversations help build your brand and help the buyer down their decision journey… right to your front door.
Assuming you accept this premise, one would think that most companies would be anxious to find solutions that can help them improve and automate the process of targeting the right content, to the right place at the right time and doing this at scale. Thereby creating huge numbers of conversations which will eventually translate into leads.
It seems so obvious that everyone would want to do this. So why aren’t companies knocking down our door to buy our solution? Why aren’t they returning our calls?
The answer.
It is because the executive suite just doesn’t believe that our solution will generate substantial increases in inbound web traffic and leads.
But the logic makes total sense? How can they not believe us?
The bottom line is proof. Who else has scaled their out bound social media marketing and what are the results they have generated? The answer is… but it makes logical sense…
BUUUUZZZZZZZZer goes off – bullshit detected !!
Business leaders by their nature want proof, not just logic. Until you can clearly and unequivocally prove a significant ROI, you are going to struggle because you have yet to master the value proposition test of “substantiate”. You must prove what you are claiming!
Right now, our value proposition is based on logic. We have studies to back that logic up from some of the most reputable advisory firms in the industry. Yet, that does not appear good enough to secure wide spread interest in our solution. Yes, there are plenty of vendors talking about employee advocacy but the real challenge to corporations is not just about amplification. It is about streamlining the flow of content through an approval process, into a rules-based campaign platform and then publish in a coordinated and managed fashion into social destinations.
The good news.
I am happy to say that we are very close to having some very credible firms announce real results from the use of our solution. We have struggled hard for a year to figure out what to sell, how to sell it and then close deals. We recently signed a Fortune 100 account that believed in us. We also signed one of the leading advisory firms in the industry and a VC backed technology company selling a B2B and B2C service.
Many more deals are now falling in to place. We recently defeated a number of major players in a heavily contested government contract.
Case studies and results will begin to emerge in the coming weeks. We will be changing the name of our company and announcing some of these major clients before the end of the year.
That is when the real selling will begin. We will now have a value proposition that resonates with our target clients. They will say to themselves, “we need this solution, we want this solution”. Our target clients will know how we differentiate with the rest of the market and how our approach is unique. Clients will say “only NewzSocial actually solves this complex challenge for us”. And finally, we will substantiate our claims. Our clients will say “I believe that NewzSocial will help us generate a significant increase in web traffic and leads”.
Stay tuned, my next posts will highlight some of these new sales and how we won.
Today’s Recommendation: Social Capital: The Secret Behind Airbnb and Uber, Barbara Gray
My Ask of you: Why do you think prospects aren’t calling you back ?
