It’s not about you

People will do anything for those who
Encourage their dreams
Justify their failures
Allay their fears
Confirm their suspicions
And help throw rocks at their enemies
_{—Blair Warren}  

Blood, sweat, and tears have gone into getting every aspect of your product right. Particularly in the medtech space, it can be tempting to fully detail your product right off the bat. But for your customer, this may feel like drinking from a firehose. Making your marketing messages and materials about the customer, and not you, is what builds great brands.

You’ve got to win the hearts and minds of your customers so that they will go through the work and investment to adopt your solution. Even if you’ve validated the technical or clinical performance of your product, what’s going to make your customers fall for you? Do you understand what they are thinking and feeling? How clear are you on the problems and pain points they have?

A great tool to use with your team is the “Value Proposition Canvas.” Skip to “Best Practices for Mapping Jobs, Pains, and Gains.” Identify your customer types and think beyond the functional benefits of your product. Think about any social or emotional needs that they have in their work life that might be impacted by your solution.

We are all drawn to people who understand us and can relate to what we’re going through. If you can’t answer questions like these, it might be time to spend the time, energy, and resources to do some foundational customer research to find out:

• What’s keeping your customers awake at night?
• What is preventing your customers from switching to existing solutions on the market?
• Who do your customers need to impress to feel successful?

Another powerful tool is the StoryBrand framework. Simply Google “how to create a StoryBrand brand script” and use the Value Proposition Canvas as a tool to help you position your product around the needs and values of your customers.

Using this a roadmap, you can then craft succinct, powerful messaging.

Test your messaging

Here’s a quick checklist to use to audit your website, collateral, social media, and email campaigns.

1. Is the customer the hero of your story?
2. Does your messaging convey about what your product does for the customer (as opposed to just what it does)?
3. Do you have a main empathy statement that you always come back to?
4. Are there ways to demonstrate customer impact in the form of case studies or use case examples?
5. Do you have specific messaging for diverse customer profiles that can be used for campaign or sales materials?

If you answer no to any of those questions, you have a great opportunity to make your messaging even more customer focused.

Get input from your customers

The best way to get inspiration for messaging that is customer-focused is directly from your happy customers. Pick up the phone, send an email, and ask for direct feedback:

How did you find us?

What problem are we solving for you?

How has your life/business improved since working with us?

And don’t be afraid to ask if they could give you a testimonial to share on your website.  

Having a solid understanding of your customer is the first step to creating customer-focused marketing messaging. This process can be time-consuming and extensive, but it’s worth getting it right. If you want a partner in going through the Value Proposition Canvas, or if you know your customer well and you’re ready to create more customer-focused messaging, my team and I at Alluvia Studio can help. Book a 20-minute introductory call, and we’ll get started on making your customers the hero of your brand.

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At Alluvia Studio, we partner with medtech executives and companies to produce compelling marketing strategies, stories, and visuals that clearly define the immense value of their patient care innovations. Our experience and knowledge in healthcare and medtech allow us to deliver critical and timely marketing solutions that free our clients up to relentlessly pursue their goals.