The start of any new year is a great time for a checkup of your personal fitness and wellness. It’s also a perfect time to check on the fitness of your brand. Whether your brand is part of a global enterprise or local small business, it may need some attention or a remedy.
Why would someone come to you?
“Why are you in business?” is a trendy way to start telling your story. But I prefer to twist that to include your customers’ opinions. Your brand is not what you say you are, but what your customers say you are.
Let’s start with how your prospective customers are finding you. For what reasons would your customers say they initially engaged with you? Do new customers say it’s because of word of mouth, social media, traditional advertising, or something else? And, is that reason working for you? Are you satisfied with your number of new customers each month? If so, check that brand wellness box! If not, let’s examine what makes your brand stand out.
What’s your key differentiator?
This is my favorite question for small-business owners or large enterprise brands with whom I am about to engage. If they’re selling the same product or the same service as multiple other places in the same neighborhood, suburb, or small town, the brand will struggle. They must find and highlight the one thing that sets them apart from the rest.
If the differentiator is “We have the best customer service,” I assume they don’t really know their differentiator as everyone says they have good customer service. Keep digging!
If the answer is “We’re cheaper,” they may have short-term sales success, but someone will come along and figure out how to do it even cheaper. (It’s only a matter of time.) Don’t send the message that you’re cheap.
Is it your people? If so, tell the customers how much you value your team and what you’re doing to keep them in the current environment, where job opportunities are plentiful for your loyal but ambitious team members.
Is it the quality of the product, the taste of the food, or the easing of whatever pain your customer may have? Whatever the answer is, that’s how you market and sell your service. That’s it! Every ad, every social-media campaign, every blog post, and every conversation with prospective customers should relate to, or call upon, this differentiator. Check the brand wellness box!
– Jack Monson
Jack Monson is the host of the Social Geek Radio Network, home of the number one podcasts in Franchising including The Franchise News Podcast and The Facebook Franchise Podcast. Monson is also the Chief Revenue Officer at Social Joey and has been working with franchisees and small businesses in social media marketing for 13 years. For more information, visit socialgeekradio.com, or email jack@socialgeekradio.com.