Understanding value

We’re hearing the term ‘value’ thrown about like confetti these days and it’s important to understand why. When it comes to someone purchasing your product or service, it’s crucial to understand their underlying motivations.

Let’s break this down a little more.

Understanding the marketing mix.

The marketing mix was initially designed with 4 P’s, maybe 5? Who knows, the point is we’re now up to 7.

Those 7:

1. Product – The actual thing you’re selling. The quality, branding, presentation, inclusions.
2. Promotion – The marketing communication. The sales, promotional material, branding, PR.
3. Price – The cost. How it stacks up against similar products is it affordable or luxury?
4. Place – The positioning. Where you promote it, think location, retail stores, channels.
5. People – Your brand. How you appeal to the market, your people are important. The culture, the reputation.
6. Process – The purchase. Features and benefits, inclusions, process to buy, customer focus, innovation and technology.  
7. Physical – The reputation. Customer service, sales help, buying processes, business locations, customer experience in person and online.

These are a combination of psychological reasons as to why someone will buy from you.

Understanding what motivates people to buy.

There are so many people who assume doing business is solely on the price point. Well, my friends, if that’s the audience you’re chasing then you’re going to be competing on price forever. That means that the only differentiation you have to offer is a lower price point to win a deal.

It’s important to understand the reasons people are looking at working or purchasing from you. It could be a number of other things including:

• Reputation
• Relationship prospects
• Quality

If you’re selling at a low price point, you can just cross quality off the list straight away. When people buy quality, the general assumption is it costs more money, so if you keep pushing your prices down, people will associate you as being ‘cheap and affordable’ and if your goal is quality then my friend, your communicating mix messages.  

Knowing your audience.

Target markets. We bet you’ve heard that thrown around too? Well, there is good reason for it. Understanding who you’re targeting helps you to shape marketing communication that talks directly to that audience. And no, you’re not targeting everyone, that’s silly, go back to the drawing board and think harder. Do some research, the answers will be right in front of your face. Make a checklist, what are the commonalities of people who buy from you. Have a look at your existing sales and see the patterns. If you’re starting out, start by learning and amending things incrementally as you go.

People who are generally looking for a low price point aren’t looking for quality. And if they want the two, then they’re kidding themselves. You don’t see Prada throwing around $50 handbags now do ya? The reason? Status.

Which brings us to our next point..

Reputation.

We’ll say it again for the people in the back ‘branding is psychological’. There is a reason why wealthy people drive expensive cars and own big elaborate houses; social status.

I mean, we’re not going to see a hipster drinking a servo coffee now are we? NO, because um.. speciality coffee all the way (spoken from experience over here #coffeesnob).

We mean we’ve seen people buy from brands purely on their social media follower count (we strongly recommend doing some research before buying here). Why? Because people will spend more purely to say they’ve worked with ‘XYZ’.

So yes, people will spend more to assimilate themselves with a brand or a product if it helps to associate them with a specific status.

It’s also important that not everyone wants ‘cheaper’. Personally, we know first-hand that we want ‘quality’. Often when buying we will filter the price tab to go from most expensive to least and then we will eliminate based on that.

Showcase your differentiation

Your differentiation is directly associated with your value.

Have years of experience? Educate, show your knowledge and skill. People buy from brands who provide added value. Think of that shortlist, if you’re providing more, chances are they’ll gravitate towards you.

Have a specific skill? Show it. It shows that you have something others don’t.

Have a cool culture? Spread it around. People love to buy from people they relate to. If you make them feel something emotionally, you’ll connect on a much deeper level (cue brand story telling – See our past blog on ‘Why it’s important to tell your brand story’ here).

What you say

How you communicate across your channels will inevitably attract who you want to work with. Value comes from a range of things; reputation, people, communication, experience. Don’t go straight to the ‘cost’ because you could be losing your ideal clients.

We know our best clients have always come from those who value us as creatives. The process is easier, the communication is strong and trust is key. It’s also when we deliver our best results.

For that reason, we made sure our communication of who we wanted to work with is clear across all of our channels. How you communicate will attract the right people. Be clear and precise.

How invested they are.

It’s really important to also note how invested they are in your product or service. If they don’t value what you do or have on offer, chances are they will dwindle the price point. If something means a lot to someone, they’re always willing to invest. The alternate reasoning to that is that they may not know the importance of your offering and how much value you can bring. If it’s the latter, it’s up to you to communicate that value (*cough refer to all of the above*).

From our point of view, in regards to branding, we are delivering a service that can really bring home a strong return on investment, so we also need to weigh up the value we are providing. If people are good at what they do, the proof is in the pudding. In saying that, it’s important to do your research, just because someone is throwing a service about at a high price point doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good, they might just think they are.

In the end, your value is born through a good strategy (check out our blog ‘How strategy can make or break your brand’ here). Knowing how and where to place yourself, who you associate with, how you provide added value, processes, customer service and the list goes on. Understand the ins and outs and then always fix and amend things until it all just works.

If you have any questions or want to know more, click here and get in touch. Or check out the services page to see what’s on offer. Alternatively, head over and follow us on Instagram and see what’s happening with us daily!