Article 2 in the 7-part series on The Definitive Guide to Content Marketing

The Message Ladder is your overall guide to creating content. It includes your value proposition and the pillars and proof points that support it. This is typically a one-pager although an accompanying brand narrative can be helpful.

Your Value Proposition

We talked about brand positioning in the last article as the foundation for your message ladder, i.e. how you express your position relative to your competition. Positioning was expressed within a customer perceptual map with axes defined by the brand attributes that motivate purchase behavior.

Here is the easy part: those brand attributes are the phrases of your value proposition. For example, Volvo’s value proposition has been “Volvo, For Life” which aligns with its position in the customer perceptual map for automobiles (see brand positioning article). Another great example is the market for laptops. We created the following customer perceptual map for ASUS:

In the top right corner ASUS is defined by the north and east brand attributes as a curious innovator and a brand that “provides” technology, enables “outcomes”, delivers “experiences”, and “serves” their customers. Their brand promise:

In Search of Incredible. ASUS is passionate about technology and driven by innovation. We dream, we dare and we strive to create an effortless and joyful digital life for everyone. We're always in search of incredible ideas and experiences – and we aspire to deliver the incredible in everything we do.

Here is the hard part: you can create more than one customer perceptual map. Note that we list several attributes to define the axes in the map above. Not as clean as the automotive example. The truth is that it doesn’t always shake out clearly or easily. It can be a messy process. You need to workshop it with your clients until you find what works and what you can actually own. As always, if you stick to the perspective of your best customers then your chances of landing on the right value proposition are better.

Supporting Pillars / Proof Points

You need to back up your brand promise. This is where it gets real. If you can’t back it up, if you don’t own it, then you have the wrong value proposition or you have a lot of work to do on your company. Prove to me that you are a curious innovator. List the innovations and why your company culture is uniquely structured to consistently deliver them. It is OK to get very detailed here. You can summarize for show and tell but the more detailed the more supportive. After all, your proof points will become the foundation for your editorial calendar. They define the issues and topics you’ll write about. They are the stories that pay off your value proposition. After all, that is what is resonating with your customers and it’s the content they need to move forward.

Next articles in this series: The Editorial Calendar: Something For Everyone

The Message Ladder

How To Create Your Value Proposition And Supporting Pillars