A 7-Stage "Maven" Marketing Approach
by Adele Sommers
How do you create
an aura of authority capable of positioning you as the "go to" person in your domain? Are you ready to develop an irresistible personal connection with your audiences that's strong enough to draw your prospects
magnetically
into your sphere of influence?
Whether you seek customers, clients, subscribers, project collaborators,
students, or affiliates, this article offers a seven-stage plan for identifying your audiences and creating information, products, or services that will set you apart as the champion of your cause.
The twist in this
process is that you actually reverse the order of what most people might do to develop an offering.
Instead of creating it and then doing the marketing
work, this sequence involves completing certain marketing
exercises first, and only then using the results to develop
your offering.
Step 1: Identify
One or More Potential Audiences
To begin, brainstorm the types of general
audiences you already serve, or might want to serve.
The more narrowly you can define your domain,
the better.
Many people would
stop there, without drilling deeper. Within each domain,
however, lies a range of specialized sub-audiences who could be drawn to specific aspects of what you
have to offer. They comprise distinct, and possibly
separate, slants or perspectives that your offerings
and marketing outreach might eventually address.
 Whether or not you
already have an audience base, start by identifying one
or more fictitious characters who represent your
specific audience, known as personas. These personas
portray typical consumers of your information, product,
service, Web site, or whatever you will be developing. You might identify
three to five or more personas to explore in depth.
To make them as
realistic as possible, give your personas names,
genders, ages, professional or personal roles, friends
and families, hobbies, educational backgrounds, and
major challenges.
Step 2: Interview
Your Real or Imagined Prospects
If you have an
existing audience base, such as a list of newsletter
subscribers, clients, or customers, you can poll
them to ask for their "burning questions" or problems related to your topic. You can collect responses
using blogs, a discussion forum, Web page, or e-mail campaign,
or during classes or teleseminars. That way, you'll
build a list of specific issues to address in your upcoming
material or solution.
If you're using imaginary prospects (personas), "interview" them and let them tell an entire
account of their circumstances, career situations,
personal challenges, or whatever else "comes up."
Write a detailed story about each person with such depth and insight that you can articulate their pain and desires like nobody else can. In particular, probe these two areas:
1) What worries keep that persona up at night?
2) What are his or her primary goals in life?
 For
example, my primary persona's name is Barbara Markey. She's a multi-talented, 37-year-old software professional
with a graphic design and engineering background.
Barbara and her husband enjoy their pets, camping trips, hiking, and gardening.
Although Barbara
generally values her job, her greatest worry is
a boss who can't manage his time and projects very well, so he often drives her crazy.
She's thinking about going back for a management degree
so she can advance in the company, but her ultimate
goal is to start her own software design business.
Thus, Barbara is a budding entrepreneur who's stuck treading water in the corporate world, chafing under a bad manager, with loads of creative talent that she'd like to harness elsewhere. Her character is therefore a "spokesperson" for the many people
out there who are just like her. Knowing this, I can tap into her life challenges and aspirations in my product development and marketing efforts.
Step 3: Write
a Mission Statement for Your Offering
 A
mission statement for your product, service, or solution
defines why it should exist. Different from a business
or company mission statement, it focuses on the specific
purpose of your offering, including how it profoundly benefits the lives of your audience members. A sample product mission
statement might read something like this:
"To develop a comprehensive program on authoring information products that:
- Helps people creatively express their life passions
- Includes flowcharts, templates, and videos on all major aspects
- Guides people step by step from initial vision through final publishing
- Can be expanded into multiple product families that will help define my brand"
Step 4: List
the Features and Benefits of Your Offering
Regarding the "burning
questions" or problems your audience has, the offering
you create will translate directly into features and
benefits that address those concerns.
 Features are the characteristics of what your product,
service, or solution does.
Benefits focus on the "So what?" angles.
For instance, will your offering save time, reduce costs and headaches, increase health, build wealth, solve problems, or boost
teamwork? How should the features make your audience
feel? Examples:
Feature #1: My system is explained in a jargon-free style.
Benefit
#1: [So what?] You and your colleagues don't
have to be experts in any particular technology or vocabulary
to use my tool set. Everything is simple to learn, understand,
and apply.
Feature #2: The
techniques can be used a few at a time, or all together.
Benefit
#2: [So what?] You can apply as few or as many tools
as you like. You're in complete control of the
scope and timing. You don't have to swallow a big,
unwieldy pill to get the results you want.
Step 5: Write
Hypothetical "Testimonials" for Your Offering
Before doing any
serious work on a product, service, or custom solution,
write short stories about
how your imagined audience members (e.g., your personas) are using what you are about to create. In your stories, ask your characters:
- What unique advantages does my offering
provide?
- Are you experiencing the
benefits I've identified (and even some I haven't)?
 Use the insights that
emerge from these hypothetical "testimonials" to help fine-tune the
requirements. The stories might surface some fascinating ideas for features and benefits that you hadn't even considered!
A key tip: Carefully consider how to address the unique "wish list" from each character without making life difficult for the others.
A related idea: Build case
studies around each story to illustrate your material.
Step 6: Use All
of the Above to Develop Your Actual Offering
So, how do you put
all of this together? Depending on what you're
creating, the guidelines below can offer insight into
the development process:
- Consider the format, look, and feel your offering
will have, such as physical or electronic products,
services, instruction, software systems, and Web sites. The special needs of any personas you created
should influence the interface design and usage requirements.
- Choose a "maven" voice or perspective, particularly
for information products (for example, researcher,
expert, advocate, contrarian, futurist, synthesizer). This is the role you're adopting for yourself as the idea-person in your market. Select this approach based on what you feel most comfortable with, how well it would sustain your audience's attention, and how strongly it identifies with your audience's pain and desires.
- Choose a framework for presenting ideas, such as problem/solution, chronological, modular,
numerical, or compare/contrast frames of reference.
- Develop an outline, proposal, or specification, and fine-tune as needed.
- Prepare the first draft of the content, proof,
or prototype. For information products, if you
can imagine having an informal conversation across
a kitchen table with one of your personas, you can
explain even complex ideas in a clear and engaging
way. Then ask a group of trusted colleagues to review
or beta test your material.
 Incorporate comments from the first review
pass and save any testimonials.
- Prepare second and subsequent drafts, distribute
for review, incorporate comments, and save any testimonials.
Step 7: Invent
a Compelling Title for Your Offering
After pouring energy
into your offering, spend quality time brainstorming
an unforgettable name for your creation. This process
may require several iterations. It's ideal to enlist
your review team -- and even your constituents --
to help select the snappiest, most memorable title.
By the end, you've
identified, described, and interviewed potential audience
members. You've developed a mission statement for
your offering, listed the features and benefits, and
envisioned customer successes. If you've used this
information to shape and name your offering, you'll
have a carefully crafted and inspiring result that will help position you as the
"thought-leader" in your domain!
Copyright 2008 Adele Sommers
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