A selection from the new book: Different Rules – the B2B Marketer’s Guidebook to Product Differentiation

B2B “Differentiation” idea starters – Part 3

By Chris Wirthwein

How it’s made

I see this differentiator as a great untapped area of marketing firepower. Lots of B2B marketers could and probably should use “how the product is made” to differentiate. Occasionally I see marketers make a stab at this. But they often miss the mark. They fail to translate a different way of manufacturing (a feature) into something relevant to the buyer. Not too long ago, in a discussion about differentiation, a very smart client of ours offered up a fill-in-the-blank statement he learned as a young B2B sales rep that taught him how to do this. The phrase he uses to this day goes like this:

Because of: _______________ (feature) ______________________ ,

you will be able to: _______________ (benefit) ______________________ ,

which means: _______________ (relevant outcome)______________________ .

Chris Wirthwein is Senior Director for 5MetaCom, a marketing agency that develops strategies and campaigns to differentiate B2B technical and scientific products. He has authored three marketing books, including his latest, Different Rules: The B2B Marketer’s Guidebook to Product Differentiation. You can reach Chris on LinkedIn or at cwirthwein@5metacom.com.

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