In the eyes of a customer, a brand is defined by their identity, your image of them, and your connection built over time. I like to call it your truth, your image, and your brand love, or the love you earn from customers over time.
So, when building a brand, I encourage you to think along those same lines:
- Brand Truth — Unearth what makes your business special
- Brand Image — Share your story with your community
- Brand Love — Build a genuine connection with your customers
This article focuses on part 1: BRAND TRUTH
Think about what value you bring to your customers. Now think about why it’s unique and why your customers should choose you instead of the competition. Here are some examples:
Quality — you source better materials
Convenience — you are more accessible
Service — you provide better customer attention
Experience — you have been doing it for longer or have more education
Innovation — you have a unique way of doing things
Specialization — you have a niche that you focus on
Personalization — you have a skill or product that is built to an individuals needs
Now this list may not be perfect, but the point is that you need to hone in on what sets you apart.
My guess is that most of you have thought about what sets you apart but still need to validate if that one thing is truly enough. Maybe you have “quality” products but so does everyone else in your space and quality isn’t an ownable trait for you yet.
Your products may very well be excellent. However, in most businesses these days, quality means that you are innovating in the space to bring new methods or new technology into your products. Otherwise, the customer won’t see the difference.
Another example could be that you have product sourcing that know one else has access to. Or that you are the only one doing legitimate product testing and working closely with customers on product development. There are many angles to tap into quality. But…
To own quality, just having a product that is excellent isn’t enough, you have to truly stand apart from the competition.
If you are having trouble figuring it out, a great tactic is to do an audit of your competition. You can see how you compare to them on these factors specifically and decide where you think you have a competitive advantage.
Even better, you can look at how your competitors are positioning themselves on their website and in their marketing messages. Look at their claims and see if yours can be better or if they can be vastly different. If they talk about price, can you talk about variety, or service? If they talk about quality, can you talk about convenience, or innovation?
And then take a look at what customers are saying about them. What kind of questions are they getting on their social media. What types of complaints do they get? What are the good and bad reviews saying?
This can all be an opportunity for you to find a problem to solve or a value to bring your customers.
And it doesn’t stop there. This speaks to the rationale side of our brains, but you need an emotional component of your truth as well.
Ground yourself in what makes your business different. And tap into what makes your business special, the emotional truth behind your mission and purpose.
Why are you in this business? Why are you passionate about what you do? What is the mission of your company? What are your principles and values?
When you can answer these questions, you will start to have attributes that you customers can relate to which helps them feel a connection with your business.
And the best part is that the big companies that you are competing with are less connected to their truth. Maybe they started with great service, but sacrificed service for profits as they grew. Maybe they used to innovate, but they stopped trying new things as they found a few winners that were the most profitable.
As a smaller company, you can stay true to your mission and keep trying new things that provide value to your customers.
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