In this stage, we research, explore, and seek deeper understanding of your business, your customers, and your market. We can apply these modules singly, or in groups, as needed and as applies to your specific situation.
Value proposition
All great endeavors begin with inspiration – whether a broad-reaching vision or a moment of crystalline clarity – this is what drives us and drives our team to new heights of excellence. We begin our process here, drawing insight from your team, and capturing the essence of what makes you special and unique. Through a series of focus and work groups, we craft this statement that informs all of our work going forward and generates alignment in your team.
Client profiling
Who are my best customers? What makes them tick? How do I get them to stick? How do I find more? Where do I focus? These are the questions we explore in our client profiling modules. A thorough understanding of the profiles and personas is integral to any and all campaigns. We can dig into varying degrees of depth:
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Internal data & narratives
We dig deeply into your top line, identifying patterns and you
r best clients or customers. Working with your team, we build personas and characters around these groupings, visioning and modeling them so that our campaigns speak directly and clearly to your audience.
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Test against external surveys & focus groups
Now, we look outside, conduct focus groups, and survey existing, prior, and prospective clients or customers. How do they perceive themselves? How do they perceive you?
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Apply external data sources to profile
Patterns = opportunities. What characteristics do your best clients have in common? Once these patterns and correlations can be established, we can develop campaigns to identify and seek out more.
Combined, this set of information creates a specific target market for the development and implementation of a comprehensive marketing and sales plan.
Competitive Review
Core messaging, target market, and all marketing, communications and sales initiatives are all informed by the nature of the competition to ensure clear differentiation of Austin Labs from other providers. We review the core messaging of competitors, their target audiences, and other relative strengths and weaknesses to position us as we develop campaigns properly.
Target Market Research
What are all of our possible verticals to target? Which then present the best opportunity for growth, based on size, complexity and competition? We research and discover the scope, scale, opportunities and risks of each prospective market so that focus and clarity can be developed across all sales and marketing processes.
Top-line audit
You and your company are constantly working to bring in new clients, new revenues, and keep what you have. What are you doing that is working? What is ineffective? Together, we will put systems in place to track, monitor, and assess so that you spend your time and money doing what matters.
Market position & directions
In what direction is the market going? Who are your competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Who are your prospective clients? What are their needs? What are their
challenges that you can solve?
- Market Research
- Competitive analysis
- Demand analysis
Brand audit
You know who you are, your clients know who you are, but do you know the same things? Are your clients engaged and happy? Are your customers receiving the value you have promised? How do your clients feel about you? A brand audit discovers the alignment and gaps in this relationship so that course corrections can be made.
- Level 1 – test internal vs. external perceptions and alignment
- Level 2 – explore what resonates with your targeted profiles
Customer Journey Mapping
This approach to client development and retention is mindful of the entire customer experience, the customer journey from start to finish – from Awareness to Close. Through a map, we outline a series of steps, telling the story of the path taken by customers or that clients take while experiencing your company’s product or service. This map informs subsequent work and visualizes the system, facilitating dialogue and driving effective decision making. The Harvard Business Review has THIS to say about the opportunities created by journey mapping.