6 Strategies for Creating a Compelling Brand

Before you jump into Facebook Timeline check your branding message. Is it tight enough to attract your most profitable and likely buyer?

A strong brand is invaluable as the battle for clients heats up day by day. Be watchful as you build your brand. A brand is a promise of the quality your client will receive. As you build your brand, maintain consistency in quality and across all of your communication as this will prevent confusion for your clients.

Your brand must be legally protectable. It is important to research trademark and domain availability. The most compelling brands are easy to pronounce, recognize and remember.

A brand is at critical mass when it becomes widely accepted by the population of an area or within your industry. At critical mass brands break free of pricing dynamics and are able to secure a premium price wherever they exist.

6 strategies for creating/revamping your brand.

1. Spend time researching your target market. In our blog on target marketing we covered 5 keys to assist you for defining your most profitable clients. Avoid attempting to become all things to all people. To create a successful brand you must understand what your prospective clients are looking for. Focus on your target market and analyze their specific needs. How are you meeting those needs?
2. Research your competition. Are other companies meeting those needs? Compare your offerings to those being offered by others in your industry. Is there an area that the competition is missing?
3. What do you do better than the rest? What is your speciality? Does your brand communicate your expertise? What makes you unique?
4.  What are you actually selling? What you sell is much different than what you offer. Walmart offers a wide variety of products, some of which have been discounted as loss leaders. What Walmart actually sells however is a friendly, one-stop shopping experience for the whole family. You can purchase a cup of coffee at McDonalds but most prefer to go to Starbucks despite the fact that Starbucks coffee costs considerably more. Although Starbucks offers coffee it sells a comfortable, inviting venue in which individuals may meet and converse. At Pici & Pici we offer sales training but we sell increased closing ratios. Identify and include what you actually sell in your branding message.
5. Create power statements to communicate these benefits, results and solutions your product/service produces. It is important to differentiate between features and benefits. A feature is a distinctive attribute or aspect of your product such as size, color, potency, options available, etc. A benefit is the advantage a client gains from the use of your product such as relief from pain, convenience, less stress, cleaner home, etc. Strong, compelling brands are built around power statements. As you work to build your brand consult the book POP – Stand Out in Any Crowd by Sam Horn. Sam is a master at the art of crafting ‘purposeful and pithy’ branding statements.
6. Be novel. Is your brand eye catching? According to Dr. A.K. Pradeep in his book The Buying Brain, “Our brains are trained to look for something brilliant and new, something that stands out from the landscape…” As new clients look at your Facebook page or website, are they engaged or bored by the ‘sameness’. Be unique. Chose eye catching colors, uncluttered layouts and upbeat music.

Your brand is the central piece in your company’s marketing and communication strategy. It is not about getting your clients to choose you over the competition. It is about getting your prospective buyer to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. By defining your brand you create the foundation for all other components to build on.

Dawn & Joe Pici are sales strategists, master trainers and co-authors of the book Sell Naked on the Phone. They have developed a results driven sales methodology that can be utilized in any industry, with any product or service. Contact – dawn@piciandpici.com; joe@piciandpici.com or call 407-947-2590.