Brand Strategy: What's
Yours?
A brand strategy is one
of the most power tools
you can have in your small business marketing arsenal
Do you have a brand strategy in place?
As a business
owner you most likely think that creating a brand strategy is something only large companies
need and can afford. The truth is that all companies need to create brand
strategy and, by default, have one already established in their marketplace.
Your marketing success requires a branding strategy that positions your
company as the superior choice in the prospect’s mind.
Without a brand
strategy you are at the whims of market and vulnerable to your competitor’s
marketing claims. When you ignore your brand or take it for granted, you
seldom have control of your own business destiny. It is critical that you
cultivate and nurture your brand because it’s a fundamental marketing
component that permeates every activity your business will ever undertake.
What is Branding Anyway?
Simply put, branding is what people think of when they hear or see your
company name. It’s the set of characteristics that a consumer uses to
identify your product or services. These characteristics are formed from the
accumulated total of all your marketing efforts – tangible or intangible,
intentional or unintentional.
Your
brand, in essence, is created by everything your business does in public.
From the way you answer the phones, to the color of your logo, to the last
experience your client had when purchased from you. Branding is a powerful
force that defines who you are, what you offer, and what you promise in the
minds of those who matter most – your prospects and clients.
Another way to look
at branding is your company value proposition. What value do you promise to
deliver to the consumer? Can you save them time? Can you save them money?
Can you make their life easier? Can you improve their financial situation?
Can you improve their relationships? Or, can you positively influence their
lives? Always remember when branding: they don’t care what your product or
service does – they only care what your product or service does for them.
It’s essential that you communicate the value you bring each and every time
you engage them.
Create a Strategy For
Your Brand and Win
Successful small business branding
is not a passive undertaking that you sit and wait for something to
happen. As a part of your marketing program foundation, your brand
strategy it must be a vibrant interaction between you and your target
market. Every prospect in your target market possesses their own set
of unique problems and needs that are actively looking to solve. It is
your job as a small business marketer to make them aware, inform them
that you have the solution they seek, and get them to take action.
As we discussed earlier, the
perception of your brand is the starting point of all your business
relationships. We also know that awareness is not enough to turn a
prospect into a loyal client. There are many obstacles, alternatives,
and distractions that are vying for their attention and causing them
to hesitate. All this requires you to persuasively pull the prospect
throughout the entire sales process utilizing the strength of your
brand. You brand strategy must work to energize them every step of the
way.
There are three energizers of your
brand that you need to focus on when throughout the brand strategy
development process. They are:
·
the relevance of your offer
·
the clarity of your message
·
the quality or your branding
encounters
The Relevance
of Your Offer
The first of these energizers is
the relevance of your offer to the prospects personal situation. In
order for a business relationship to commence
your offer must
contain an
intrinsic value that appeals to the needs of your target market. What
does your product or service do for them? How can it solve their
problem? Will it make them feel better, improve their appearance, save
them time or money? What is the one thing that they are looking for
that you have to offer and means something in their life?
Relevance is totally dictated by
the lifestyle of the person. Basically, either they need what you are
offering or they don’t. For example, you won’t sell many snow shovels
in Maui; there is just no need for them. On the other hand, if you
lived in Buffalo, New York you will have a significant market for
people looking to buy snow shovels.
However, your market is also made
up of people who don’t have an immediate need but may need it in the
future; this where branding is most valuable. With proper target
marketing you will have many prospects are at different stages of your
objective path. Some will be in awareness, others will be seeking
knowledge of your product, and many will have reached a level of trust
where they are ready to buy. But it all started because you had a
relevant product that made them curious.
The key to relevance is to know
exactly who your market is and initiate a conversation that engages
their interest. This branding conversation should always focus on them
and their needs and not about how great your product or service is.
They don’t care about you; they only care about what they need! Why
should they be concerned with you when they have their own problems
and needs to fill?
A convenience store is exactly
what the name implies. There is a reason they are located on high
traffic locations and carry only small selection of items that you
need in a hurry. The times when you crave a quick snack and cold soda,
they have potent relevance to your life.
How motivated they are to fulfill
their need will in the end decide which product or service they
purchase. Relevance is strongly tied to the perceptions of your
market. You must aim to push their curiosity button and communicate
plainly with them that your offer is the best-choice, lowest-risk
option available. This can only be a achieved by the second brand
energizer – the clarity of your message.
The Clarity of
Your Message
No matter how wonderful your
product or brilliant your strategy,
without a clear and focused
message you have little chance to influence the perceptions of your
market. Communicating your benefits as the solution to their problem
should always be your highest purpose. Your goal should be to make the
decision making process so natural and effortless for the prospect
that they expend little effort along your objective path.
Clarity is your strongest ally and
ambiguity your deadliest enemy in marketing. Always remember, the
confused mind says no. If there is the slightest bit of confusion
about your product or service in their mind the prospect will not act.
Confusion and uncertainty pushes them out of their comfort zone and
makes them withdraw into a defensive position. This position is the
worst possible scenario for a marketer – they do nothing and keep
their money!
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Be clear and concise with the
benefits of your product and services.
Make them see the relevance of
what you have to offer and get to the point. It is important to note
that they are investing their most precious resource when they
consider your offer – their time. If you waste it on superfluous
information or self-centered babble, you turn them away and lose your
opportunity to lead them down your branding path. Your message must
always energize them to want to know more then time is of little
concern.
Avoid the temptation of being to
cute and clever when communicating your benefits. Large corporations
spend millions of dollars for a thirty second TV ad during the Super
Bowl. These ads often attempt to entertain and amaze so people will
talk about them the next morning. Sometimes you don’t even know what
the commercial was trying to sell because they were too vague and
conceptual. As a small business, you can’t afford to be so frivolous
with your branding. So always be clear and be concise with your
branding message.
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A clear message is insignificant
without consistent delivery. Consistency is the compass that keeps
your prospect on the correct course to the sale. Consistency produces familiarity,
familiarity produces knowledge, and knowledge produces trust. It takes
time and multiple exposures for your message to be understood and
acted upon by your prospects. Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of
Guerrilla Marketing, says it takes over nine clear exposures to your
marketing message for a prospect to move from apathy to purchasing.
The problem lies in the fact that they pay attention to only every
third market message they see. Therefore, it requires 27 exposures for
your marketing message to get through to each and every person in your
target market.
Without a consistent message
throughout those 27 exposures you would confuse the prospect and risk
losing the sale. Clarity and consistency throughout your brand journey
pays huge dividends in the end!
The Quality of
Your Branding Encounters
The third energizer of your brand
is the quality of your branding encounters.
Each time your target
market comes in contact with your business is considered a branding
encounter.
This can be as formal as a face-to-face sales call or as
casual as someone mentioning their experience with your company to
friend. No matter the setting, significance, or frequency of the
contact, quality matters.
There are hundreds of ways for
your market to encounter your brand. Some encounters like sales call,
direct mail, or a website visit offer you a measure of control over
the process. Others, such as exposures to you signage, coupon
redemptions, or word-of-mouth opinions are outside the sphere of your
direct influence. Throughout the branding journey the quality and
result of these encounters are vital to your success.
Individually each encounter your
prospect has with your brand is a precious opportunity to persuade
them that your offer is worthy of their trust. Collectively they are
the basis of what opinion they develop and the bond of your
relationship with them. The consequences of the encounters are huge.
Brands with that consistently
leave positive impressions often enjoy high degrees of loyalty,
excellent word-of-mouth, higher price points, greater customer
satisfaction, and higher sales. Conversely, when little or
inconsistent branding takes place the opposite is true. Which would
you prefer for your company?
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Creating Your Branding
Strategy |
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1.
What's your Branding Strategy
A branding strategy is the most overlooked part
of a small business. Without a strategy, you allow your
competitors to dictate the character of your brand in the
market!
2.
Branding Strategy: Perception is Reality
You
cannot control your brand you can only influence it.
Ultimately, your prospects, clients, and customers control
the
success of your branding.
(more)
3.
The Branding Process
Successful small businesses approach their brand marketing as a
critical
process. What have you done to brand your business today?
(more)
4.
Elements of Your Brand
Your brand
identity consists of several key elements that define your
offering. It’s important to use these elements in combination to
appeal to your target market.
(more)
5.
Critical Branding Questions
Not
sure where to start when creating your brand? Answer these
important questions to help with your brand strategy.
(more)
6.
Brand Marketing Resources
Find
brand marketing resources that will help you create you create
brand strategies to help your small business marketing succeed.
(more)
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Coach Ron's Recommended
Resources:
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