How do you differentiate your brand?
In this post, I’ll cover some of the brand basics that you need to pay attention to – plus the big brand intangibles that set your brand apart.
Brand Basics
These are the brand building elements that you need to pay continuous attention to – and keep evolving in the journey to building your powerful brand.
You’ll need to:
- Be clear on your target market – and what they really want and need. Remember this won’t stay static – their requirements will evolve over time. You don’t have a business without customers, so nurturing them and providing services and products they love is essential.
- Know your competition – what they offer, how well it works and why. You don’t want to copy them. Instead, you want to emphasise what makes your services and products different and more desirable.
- Communicate your brand value proposition clearly, throughout your messaging. You’ll have an over-arching message that you want to be known for - and specific benefits and features for individual products, services, or ranges.
- Choose your social media and promotional channels with care to reach your target markets and to build awareness and recognition. Keep these channels and your website up-to-date and in-tune with your clients.
All these items are on your basic brand marketing checklist, and they really matter – but what about your brand itself? What differentiates your brand, truly?
Brand Intangibles
This is when knowing your brand intangibles and putting them into action helps your brand to stand out. In my view the ‘big three’ brand intangibles are the ones that make the difference in differentiating your business – because your client’s buying decisions are based on emotion and supported with reason.
Purpose
This is the engine that drives your brand, along with your vision. Your vision captures ‘where’ your brand is heading, whilst your brand purpose provides the ‘why’.
Simply said, it’s the reason why your brand exists, apart from making money.
And for me, your brand why is totally aligned with your choice of target audience. Just join the dots…
Values
Brand values are the ‘how’ of your brand – its moral compass or north star. Your brand values provide the guiding light for how you do business. Again, they are completely aligned with your target audience.
My suggestion is to focus on 3 core values that define how your brand operates differently – with clients, employees, suppliers, associates and any other stakeholders.
Put your brand values on the wall, write them in your notebooks, believe in them and live them every single day. Remember if everyone in the business isn’t putting these 3 core brand values into action daily – they’re the wrong ones!
It’s known that values attract – people prefer to buy from people who share similar values. So, get those brand values onto your website and into your social media profiles and posts.
Personality
This is the ‘who’ of your brand. Thinking of your brand as a human is key to ‘human to human’ communication. It makes your brand relatable. It increases emotional connection and attracts your target clients.
Your audience expects your brand to behave in a specific way, just like a person, based on its stated values.
Your brand personality means that your brand has its own brand voice – with a distinctive vocabulary and tone. It will speak in certain ways – and not in others. And you must be consistent in your brand voice – or risk confusing your target market.
Lastly your brand will have its own distinctive brand style. This consists of the elements of your brand aesthetic – from colours and fonts to imagery and icons. (Check out the power of orange as your brand colour and the how green works in branding)
Combine these 3 brand intangibles together and your brand will be:
- Differentiated and distinctive
- Very difficult to copy
In summary
Your brand is a mix of tangible and intangible elements. Being clear about your Brand Purpose, Brand Values and Brand Personality will establish a firm foundation for all your marketing activities – and importantly differentiate your brand from competitors in a way that cannot be copied.
If you want help to clarify who your brand is and what it stands for do get in touch.
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1. Let's talk
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2. Reshape your brand
Using my 3-step Brand Affinity™ process, your brand looks and feels authentic, with a distinctive identity and value-based messaging...
3. Get noticed
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