business strategy Archives - DigitalMarketer Mon, 08 Apr 2024 18:04:43 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.digitalmarketer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/gearsNew-150x150.png business strategy Archives - DigitalMarketer 32 32 2 Ways to Take Back the Power in Your Business: Part 2 https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/2-ways-to-take-back-the-power-in-your-business-part-2/ Mon, 08 Apr 2024 17:37:48 +0000 https://www.digitalmarketer.com/?p=167389 Discover how to reclaim control of your business with insightful strategies to navigate competition, colleagues, and customer demands.

The post 2 Ways to Take Back the Power in Your Business: Part 2 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

]]>

Before we dive into the second way to assume power in your business, let’s revisit Part 1. 

Who informs your marketing strategy? 

YOU, with your carefully curated strategy informed by data and deep knowledge of your brand and audience? Or any of the 3 Cs below? 

  • Competitors: Their advertising and digital presence and seemingly never-ending budgets consume the landscape.
  • Colleagues: Their tried-and-true proven tactics or lessons learned.
  • Customers: Their calls, requests, and ideas. 

Considering any of the above is not bad, in fact, it can be very wise! However, listening quickly becomes devastating if it lends to their running our business or marketing department. 

It’s time we move from defense to offense, sitting in the driver’s seat rather than allowing any of the 3 Cs to control. 

It is one thing to learn from and entirely another to be controlled by. 

In Part 1, we explored how knowing what we want is critical to regaining power.

1) Knowing what you want protects the bottom line.

2) Knowing what you want protects you from the 3 Cs. 

3) Knowing what you want protects you from running on auto-pilot.

You can read Part 1 here; in the meantime, let’s dive in! 

How to Regain Control of Your Business: Knowing Who You Are

Vertical alignment is a favorite concept of mine, coined over the last two years throughout my personal journey of knowing self. 

Consider the diagram below.

Vertical alignment is the state of internal being centered with who you are at your core. 

Horizontal alignment is the state of external doing engaged with the world around you.

In a state of vertical alignment, your business operates from its core center, predicated on its mission, values, and brand. It is authentic and confident and cuts through the noise because it is entirely unique from every competitor in the market. 

From this vertical alignment, your business is positioned for horizontal alignment to fulfill the integrity of its intended services, instituted processes, and promised results. 

A strong brand is not only differentiated in the market by its vertical alignment but delivers consistently and reliably in terms of its products, offerings, and services and also in terms of the customer experience by its horizontal alignment. 

Let’s examine what knowing who you are looks like in application, as well as some habits to implement with your team to strengthen vertical alignment. 

1) Knowing who You are Protects You from Horizontal Voices. 

The strength of “Who We Are” predicates the ability to maintain vertical alignment when something threatens your stability. When a colleague proposes a tactic that is not aligned with your values. When the customer comes calling with ideas that will knock you off course as bandwidth is limited or the budget is tight. 

I was on a call with a gal from my Mastermind when I mentioned a retreat I am excited to launch in the coming months. 

I shared that I was considering its positioning, given its curriculum is rooted in emotional intelligence (EQ) to inform personal brand development. The retreat serves C-Suite, but as EQ is not a common conversation among this audience, I was considering the best positioning. 

She advised, “Sell them solely on the business aspects, and then sneak attack with the EQ when they’re at the retreat!” 

At first blush, it sounds reasonable. After all, there’s a reason why the phrase, “Sell the people what they want, give them what they need,” is popular.

Horizontal advice and counsel can produce a wealth of knowledge. However, we must always approach the horizontal landscape – the external – powered by vertical alignment – centered internally with the core of who we are. 

Upon considering my values of who I am and the vision of what I want for this event, I realized the lack of transparency is not in alignment with my values nor setting the right expectations for the experience.

Sure, maybe I would get more sales; however, my bottom line — what I want — is not just sales. I want transformation on an emotional level. I want C-Suite execs to leave powered from a place of emotional intelligence to decrease decisions made out of alignment with who they are or executing tactics rooted in guilt, not vision. 

Ultimately, one of my core values is authenticity, and I must make business decisions accordingly. 

2) Knowing who You are Protects You from Reactivity.

Operating from vertical alignment maintains focus on the bottom line and the strategy to achieve it. From this position, you are protected from reacting to the horizontal pressures of the 3 Cs: Competitors, Colleagues, and Customers. 

This does not mean you do not adjust tactics or learn. 

However, your approach to adjustments is proactive direction, not reactive deviations. To do this, consider the following questions:

First: How does their (any one of the 3 Cs) tactic measure against my proven track record of success?

If your colleague promotes adding newsletters to your strategy, lean in and ask, “Why?” 

  • What are their outcomes? 
  • What metrics are they tracking for success? 
  • What is their bottom line against yours? 
  • How do newsletters fit into their strategy and stage(s) of the customer journey? 

Always consider your historical track record of success first and foremost. 

Have you tried newsletters in the past? Is their audience different from yours? Why are newsletters good for them when they did not prove profitable for you? 

Operate with your head up and your eyes open. 

Maintain focus on your bottom line and ask questions. Revisit your data, and don’t just take their word for it. 

2. Am I allocating time in my schedule?

I had coffee with the former CEO of Jiffy Lube, who built the empire that it is today. 

He could not emphasize more how critical it is to allocate time for thinking. Just being — not doing — and thinking about your business or department. 

Especially for senior leaders or business owners, but even still for junior staff. 

The time and space to be fosters creative thinking, new ideas, and energy. Some of my best campaigns are conjured on a walk or in the shower. 

Kasim Aslam, founder of the world’s #1 Google Ads agency and a dear friend of mine, is a machine when it comes to hacks and habits. He encouraged me to take an audit of my calendar over the last 30 days to assess how I spend time. 

“Create three buckets,” he said. “Organize them by the following:

  • Tasks that Generate Revenue
  • Tasks that Cost Me Money
  • Tasks that Didn’t Earn Anything”

He and I chatted after I completed this exercise, and I added one to the list: Tasks that are Life-Giving. 

Friends — if we are running empty, exhausted, or emotionally depleted, our creative and strategic wherewithal will be significantly diminished. We are holistic creatures and, therefore, must nurture our mind, body, soul, and spirit to maintain optimum capacity for impact. 

I shared this hack with a friend of mine. Not only did she identify meetings that were costing her money and thus needed to be eliminated, but she also identified that particular meetings could actually turn revenue-generating! She spent a good amount of time each month facilitating introductions; now, she is adding Strategic Partnerships to her suite of services. 


ACTION: Analyze your calendar’s last 30-60 days against the list above. 

Include what is life-giving! 

How are you spending your time? What is the data showing you? Are you on the path to achieving what you want and living in alignment with who you want to be?

Share with your team or business partner for the purpose of accountability, and implement practical changes accordingly. 


Finally, remember: If you will not protect your time, no one else will. 

3) Knowing who You are Protects You from Lack. 

“What are you proud of?” someone asked me last year. 

“Nothing!” I reply too quickly. “I know I’m not living up to my potential or operating in the full capacity I could be.” 

They looked at me in shock. “You need to read The Gap And The Gain.”

I silently rolled my eyes.

I already knew the premise of the book, or I thought I did. I mused: My vision is so big, and I have so much to accomplish. The thought of solely focusing on “my wins” sounded like an excuse to abdicate personal responsibility. 

But I acquiesced. 

The premise of this book is to measure one’s self from where they started and the success from that place to where they are today — the gains — rather than from where they hope to get and the seemingly never-ending distance — the gap.

Ultimately, Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan encourage changing perspectives to assign success, considering the starting point rather than the destination.

The book opens with the following story:

Dan Jensen was an Olympic speed skater, notably the fastest in the world. But in each game spanning a decade, Jansen could not catch a break. “Flukes” — even tragedy with the death of his sister in the early morning of the 1988 Olympics — continued to disrupt the prediction of him being favored as the winner. 

The 1994 Olympics were the last of his career. He had one more shot.

Preceding his last Olympics in 1994, Jansen adjusted his mindset. He focused on every single person who invested in him, leading to this moment. He considered just how very lucky he was to even participate in the first place. He thought about his love for the sport itself, all of which led to an overwhelming realization of just how much he had gained throughout his life.

He raced the 1994 Olympic games differently, as his mindset powering every stride was one of confidence and gratitude — predicated on the gains rather than the gap in his life. 

This race secured him his first and only gold medal and broke a world record, simultaneously proving one of the most emotional wins in Olympic history. 

Friends, knowing who we are on the personal and professional level, can protect us from those voices of shame or guilt that creep in. 


PERSONAL ACTION: Create two columns. On one side, create a list of where you were when you started your business or your position at your company. Include skills and networks and even feelings about where you were in life. On the other side, outline where you are today. 

Look at how far you’ve come. 

COMPANY ACTION: Implement a quarterly meeting to review the past three months. Where did you start? Where are you now? 

Celebrate the gain!

Only from this place of gain mindset, can you create goals for the next quarter predicated on where you are today.


Ultimately, my hope for you is that you deliver exceptional and memorable experiences laced with empathy toward the customer (horizontally aligned) yet powered by the authenticity of the brand (vertically aligned). 

Aligning vertically maintains our focus on the bottom line and powers horizontal fulfillment. 

Content Marketing Certification

Want to get certified in Content Marketing?

Leverage the tools and channels to predictably and profitably drive awareness, leads, sales, and referrals—EVERYTHING you need to know to become a true master of digital marketing.​ Click Here

Granted, there will be strategic times and seasons for adjustment; however, these changes are to be made on the heels of consulting who we are as a brand — not in reaction to the horizontal landscape of what is the latest and greatest in the industry. 

In Conclusion…

Taking back control of your business and marketing strategies requires a conscious effort to resist external pressures and realign with what you want and who you are.

Final thoughts as we wrap up: 

First, identify the root issue(s).

Consider which of the 3 Cs holds the most power: be it competition, colleagues, or customers.

Second, align vertically.

Vertical alignment facilitates individuality in the market and ensures you — and I — stand out and shine while serving our customers well. 

Third, keep the bottom line in view.

Implement a routine that keeps you and your team focused on what matters most, and then create the cascading strategy necessary to accomplish it. 

Fourth, maintain your mindsets.

Who You Are includes values for the internal culture. Guide your team in acknowledging the progress made along the way and embracing the gains to operate from a position of strength and confidence.

Fifth, maintain humility.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of humility and being open to what others are doing. However, horizontal alignment must come after vertical alignment. Otherwise, we will be at the mercy of the whims and fads of everyone around us. Humility allows us to be open to external inputs and vertically aligned at the same time.

Buckle up, friends! It’s time to take back the wheel and drive our businesses forward. 

The power lies with you and me.

The post 2 Ways to Take Back the Power in Your Business: Part 2 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

]]>
2 Ways to Take Back the Power in Your Business: Part 1 https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/2-ways-to-take-back-the-power-in-your-business-part-1/ Mon, 25 Mar 2024 22:12:58 +0000 https://www.digitalmarketer.com/?p=167349 Discover how to reclaim control of your business with insightful strategies to navigate competition, colleagues, and customer demands.

The post 2 Ways to Take Back the Power in Your Business: Part 1 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

]]>

As I considered the topic that would best serve entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketers alike — all of whom I am — I mused over what I needed most throughout the last year. 

I needed to take back control of my business. 

And I am charging you to do the same. 

While I have provided two strategic ways to do so, the first outlined below and the second outlined in this blog post, it is critical that we first identify the root issue. 

Why are you and I not operating in the driver’s seat of our marketing and/or businesses? 

Three fundamental core challenges come in the form of 3 Cs: Competition, Colleagues, and Customers.

Who Are You Listening To?

1. Competition

We know the feeling all too well.

We feel a pit in our stomach or a slight racing of the heart when our competitors’ ads or organic content seem to be taking over social media and the internet: Google Ads, YouTube, TikTok, newsletters, LinkedIn, programmatic…

And don’t forget traditional advertising.

Especially if you are in the home services or specialty services spaces where direct mail is 100% where you need to be, but don’t forget the QR code and UTMs and unique landing pages and geotargeted ads and email nurturing sequence for a holistic approach. 

Our competition’s budget appears never-ending, and their marketing team must be fantastic. 

Is theirs the strategy we should adopt, deviating from our carefully charted course agreed upon at the outset of the year?

2. Colleagues

Or perhaps it’s that of the peers in our Masterminds or networking groups or online communities. 

After all, within these groups resides a wealth of knowledge and expertise, tried-and-true insights, and wins. I am guilty as charged — my talk at T&C 2024 was chock-full of recommendations guiding marketers on their path to generating over 800% ROAS…
Should our marketing strategy or business’s bottom line deviate then?

3. Customers

Oh! But the power of our customers…when their phone call just after 5:00 PM because they saw their competitor’s ad and want to change course. 

Or when our customers’ higher-ups ask why you didn’t generate enough leads last month and how the bottom line is threatened if we don’t do something fast.

And how they joke about your job being on the line if numbers don’t change.

Do any of these resonate? 

If you are a human with a soul that cares about your business, team, and customers, I anticipate your hand is raised alongside mine. 

Friends, it is time we unbuckle the seatbelt of the 3 Cs and graciously escort them out. 

It’s time for you to regain control.

How to Regain Control of Your Business: Knowing What You Want

I cannot tell you how many times my question, “What do you want?” is met with blank stares. 

Such a simple question with such significant ramifications. 

To assume control, we must know what we want for the following three reasons.

1) Knowing what you want keeps you focused on the bottom line.

So many of us fail to regularly take stock of where we are actually going. 

Our heads are down, focused on tasks before us, rather than heads up, looking to the finish line yet equally aware of how our strategies today are or are not moving us closer to that target. 

With our heads down, the focus is on the key performance indicators (KPIs) of the necessary activations to achieve the bottom-line goal rather than the focus being on the goal itself. 

The trick is maintaining clarity of the goal and bottom line to then inform the strategic direction.


EXAMPLE: The Knowing Agency serves as fractional CMO for a waterproofing company. A major — colossal, even — KPI is lead generation. 

This KPI is obviously important because you need leads to get customers.

However, in 2023, our lead count was down significantly. 

With the 3 Cs close at hand, I questioned myself: Am I leading the team in the wrong direction!? 

We must be willing to ask tough questions and pursue the truth, even if it may prove that we are heading in the wrong direction — especially then! 

For we must first know the truth to then be changed by it. 

But I had to zoom out in order to know. 

With the bottom line as the primary focus, I then considered the KPI. 

When we zoomed out and measured that KPI in light of the bottom line, revenue, rather than as a standalone metric, we actually saw a significant increase in overall revenue and profits despite a lower lead count.

This means that while we were driving fewer leads, they were much more qualified, hence driving higher revenue.


My question for you is: Do you know what you want? 

And do you know your bottom line goal and the KPIs necessary to get there?

2) Knowing what you want protects you from the 3 Cs. 

The bottom-line goals of your company or department serve as guardrails to keep you on the straight and narrow when one of the 3 Cs comes calling. 

Protection from Competitors: Their bottom line could very well be entirely different from yours. Perhaps you seek to expand into a new region and must allocate funds by cutting budgets on top-of-funnel brand awareness tactics. Yet your competitor is dominating TV. Don’t deviate; your bottom line is at stake. 

Protection from Colleagues: Perhaps your bottom line is similar, but your target audiences are different. They are finding wild success with newsletters reaching an older demo while your audience is highly engaged with podcasts. Yes, perhaps explore newsletters, but not at the expense of your engaged audience on your podcast. 

Protection from Customers: Hopefully, you both have the same bottom line! However, when my client called with concerns about the KPI of lead numbers, which is indeed important, my ability to maintain focus on the bottom line guided their right thinking about what matters most: Revenue. 

Protection from the 3 Cs does not mean turning a blind eye or ignoring what is working for them. But it does keep your bottom line as the chief focus.

3) Knowing what you want protects you from running on auto-pilot.

Knowing what you want maintains momentum and breathes energy into tasks that otherwise would be monotonous.

Lead yourself or your team in revisiting the vision for the company regularly.

Nine-to-five employees increasingly seek to align with impact-driven organizations, and keeping the transformation the company aims to procure top-of-mind will drive motivation.

The transformation is always emotional, even surrounding a product or service.


EXAMPLE: Returning to the waterproofing company our team supported. Waterproofing a basement transforms the customers’ emotional states from one of anxiety or worry into one of peace or assurance. 

What once was: We are a waterproofing company servicing homeowners in Destin, Florida, for 54 years. Trust our team to waterproof your basement! 

Turns into: Our company cares for your family. Our company preserves homeowners’ greatest investment. Our company, ultimately, protects your home, which is where life happens. 

Suddenly, a waterproofing company has empathy.

Just like that, we are serving families and homes, not just servicing a basement.


But before you can truly know what you want, you first have to know who you are.

Head on over to Part 2!

The post 2 Ways to Take Back the Power in Your Business: Part 1 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

]]>
Revolutionize the Way You Build Your Website Homepage https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/business-strategy-build-website-homepage/ https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/business-strategy-build-website-homepage/#respond Mon, 01 Mar 2021 15:43:14 +0000 https://www.digitalmarketer.com/?p=85336 Bringing your business strategy into your website homepage may just be the trick that gets you better conversions than ever.

The post Revolutionize the Way You Build Your Website Homepage appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

]]>

When was the last time you brought your business strategy into your website design? If the answer is never, we get it.

As marketers and business owners, we don’t bring business strategy into our websites. We bring customer avatar pain points, strategic calls to action, and hero images that draw the reader’s attention to our shiny CTA buttons.

It’s tempting to think this is the best way to create a website. If the experience is designed for our customer avatar—why would we bring our business strategy into it?

In a few minutes, you’re going to have a lightbulb shining brightly over your head. You’re going to say, “Ohhhhhhhhh,” hit CTRL + T to open another tab and take a scroll through your website with tons of new ideas as to how you can make it better.

We’re not talking a little better either. We’re talking about the difference between an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 11. Bringing your business strategy into your homepage is that next level touch that you get to have that your competition doesn’t.

And that sounds pretty sweet, doesn’t it?

The 5 Key Elements of a Business Strategy

Frank Cowell, CEO of Digitopia and DigitalMarketer Legacy Certified Partner, recently visited the DM office stage to explain why business strategy is an essential part of a great website homepage. Based on 5 key elements of a business strategy, he can integrate these strategies into a homepage in a way that attracts the right audience and shows them why you’re the solution to their problem.

As Frank mentions in his Certified Partner Training Day session, these are far from the only elements of your business strategy. You need to be strategizing as a business owner or marketer, but these are the 5 key elements that can really help you create that top-tier homepage.

Here are Frank’s 5 key elements of a business strategy and how you can use them to create your best website homepage yet.

Element #1: Purpose

Why does your business exist?

Sorry to send you into an existential crisis. Unfortunately, it had to be done. Before we can start building your website homepage, we have to know why it even exists in the first place. To be clear, we’re not asking you to go full-Zappos on us and let us know that you’re here to make the world a better place.

Frank doesn’t require you to figure out your “higher calling”—all you need to do is figure out why your target audience cares that you exist. If you’re Tom’s shoes, your audience does care that you have a higher calling to give a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair sold. In that case, you can use that on your website homepage (and we’re sure Tom’s does). But, if your business isn’t focused on something like that, then all you need is to curate a mini Mission Statement.

This Mission Statement should be “big enough” that it never needs to change. This means that you could leave this copy written as is for years to come because it still encompasses what your company does and why.

A key part of figuring out your purpose is knowing that it’s not the actual labor you do—it’s the outcome you create. Use this formula to create a purpose:

“At [BRAND], we exist to help/empower/take/etc. [HIGH-LEVEL WHO] [BIGGEST OUTCOME].”

Here are a few examples of what a purpose looks like:

  • “At ACME, we exist to help dental practice owners increase awareness and demand.”
  • “At ACME, we exist to help manufacturers create highly safe workplaces.”
  • “At ACME, we exist to help CPA firms triple their revenue.”
  • “At ACME, we exist to help Fathers become Dad of the Year.”

In DigitalMarketer’s CEO Ryan Deiss’ High-Converting Homepage Insider Training, he gave us the harsh truth. Your above-the-fold content gets 84% of the attention of your website. Below-the-fold content gets the remaining 16%. Kind of stings a little when you think about how long and how much you paid for that below-the-fold content, huh?

That’s why we need the above-the-fold content to be perfect. Perfect in this case means that it has a core message. As Ryan explains in his training, that core message has to start with clarifying your audience. That’s exactly what you do with Frank’s mini Mission Statement.

Make it clear what your purpose is by creating a mini Mission Statement that shows website visitors who you serve and what outcomes you create.

Element #2: Passion

What will you be the best in the world at?

Don’t be scared. We know that we just sent you into a mini mid-life crisis in the last section and now we’re telling you that you need to be the best in the world at what you do. Frank wouldn’t ask this of us if he didn’t know with certainty that we were capable of it. In Frank’s Certified Partner training, he explains how your passion turns you into the best in the world at what you do.

Specifically, it shows you what slice of the industry you are lasering in on.

Let’s clear something up first. Niche is often confused with a target market segment. That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about your niche in terms of the segment of your industry that you focus on and excel in helping.

For example, at DigitalMarketer we don’t help you with your marketing—we help you with your digital marketing. A furniture store is part of the furniture industry, but a luxury furniture store is a segment of that industry. Cars an industry, but racing-inspired sports cars are a segment of that industry.

When you’re creating the copy for this section of your homepage, you need to write it for your audience’s awareness level. Audiences have different awareness levels depending on how familiar they are with your business. Ryan calls these levels of awareness the Homepage Lifecycle Phases. A brand-new company’s homepage should look entirely different than a 20-year old company’s homepage.

Yes, that means you should not be crafting your homepage to look like Apple’s. You need to be creating it based on your audience’s level of awareness.

There are 4 phases of the Homepage Lifecycle:

Phase 1: Problem Aware (the customer knows they have a problem)

Phase 2: Solution Aware (the customer is evaluating which solution is best for them)

Phase 3: Product Aware (people already know your product)

Phase 4: Most Aware (people know exactly what you sell and who you are)

At each phase of the Homepage Lifecycle, your audience needs something different from you.

Phase 1: Hope

Phase 2: Clarity

Phase 3: Assurance

Phase 4: Novelty

As you nail down what you’re the best in the world at in your business strategy, you’re going to bring that to your homepage and translate it based on what phase of the Homepage Lifecycle your business is in. (Hint: Chances are you’re in Phase 1 or Phase 2)

Element #3: Differentiation

How are you different from other options?

In your business strategy, you’ve narrowed down your competitive edge. Why does somebody want to buy your product over a similar product?

You need to show your customers how you’re different on your homepage. As Frank puts it, “What is the unique way that you deliver your Passion?” Frank does a great job of explaining this concept in four words:

Avoid selling the commodity.

When you sell the commodity (and just that), you don’t differentiate yourself. You have to sell the commodity differently. For example, Frank shows how we’ve done this at DigitalMarketer.

You’re familiar with the Customer Value Journey, the 8-stage process of taking a stranger and turning them into a raving fan of your brand. We’ve used the Customer Value Journey to set ourselves apart with how we deliver digital marketing (the commodity).

Here are two more examples of differentiation at work from Frank:

  • “Business Management Consulting” with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
  • “Accounting Services” with the Profit First Method

We love differentiating ourselves because it makes our lives better. Yep, better. When you differentiate yourself with your own process, you find clients who want to hire you for *your* way of doing things. This means you avoid the people who want to micro-manage or aren’t ready to let someone else run the show.

Anyone who hires you or buys your products wants to do it because of your unique way of delivering them—which helps you have a more seamless client or customer experience.

Element #4: Promises

What can your customers count on when doing business with you?

Ecommerce Certification

Become A Certified E-Commerce Marketing Master

The Industry’s Most Comprehensive E-Commerce Marketing Certification For The Modern Marketer. Turn Products Into Profit, Browsers Into Buyers, & Past Purchasers Into Life-Long Customers

Click here

Aside from your differentiators as your competitive edge, the promises you make to your customer avatar are part of your business strategy. They’re the cherry on top that makes you an obvious option for their business.

The key to curating a great promise is by placing yourself at the top or near the top with it. Here’s what Frank means by that: don’t promise to have a fast response rate, have the quickest response rate in the industry.

By being the fastest, most successful, most luxurious, etc. you create an impact. You set yourself apart from competitors with similar products. Add this on top of your differentiator and your business becomes its own pillar within your industry (not an ivy trying to crawl up someone else’s established pillar).

Your promise(s) will be your winning attributes or top 3 features and benefits. As Frank says, these are often born from the things customers despise about companies like yours.

Follow this template for creating your promise:

“When you choose ACME, we will [PROMISE] so [BENEFIT].”

Here are some examples from Frank of promises:

  • “ACME—Fastest Response, Real-Time Analytics, and Best Warranty.
  • “When you choose ACME, we‘ll respond to every request within two business hours so you won’t be kept from moving the project forward.”
  • “When you choose ACME, you’ll have 24/7 access to a real-time analytics dashboard so you’ll always know exactly where your campaign’s performance stands.”
  • “When you choose ACME, you’ll get a three-year warranty so that you can rest assured that your investment will last.”

Element #5: Focus

How will you ensure you maximize your Differentiation and Promises so that they help you establish marketplace dominance?

Here’s when things start to simplify. Frank teaches Verne Harnish’s “One Phrase Strategy” that says, “If you can’t state your strategy in one sentence, you ain’t got it.”

This is where your business strategy starts to help you make all of your decisions moving forward (including how strategically create your homepage). All decisions must go through this lens of focus.

  • Should we develop this new product?
    • Should we acquire this company?
    • Should we take on this project?
    • Is this the right team structure?
    • Is everyone in the right seat?

Is your homepage maximizing your Differentiation and Promises?

Frank shows us a few great examples of companies who live by their differentiators and promises.

Southwest: Makes their differentiator that there are no first-class tickets and promises to use the time they get back from not having to separately board first-class passengers to take off on time.

Ikea: Their differentiator is their easy to build furniture and their promise is that because it’s flat-packed you’ll be able to get it from Ikea to your home easily.

Did we turn that lightbulb above your head on yet? At this point, it should be shining so bright the competition notices it and thinks, “Uh oh, we’re in trouble.”

Using Frank’s 5 elements of a great business strategy, you’ll be able to craft a homepage that suits your audience perfectly. Not only will you call them out for the specific problem they face (that you solve), but you’ll meet them exactly where they are (problem or solution aware).

And that’s the key to revolutionizing your website homepage.

The post Revolutionize the Way You Build Your Website Homepage appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

]]>
https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/business-strategy-build-website-homepage/feed/ 0