Last week on my blog I encouraged you to commit to building a strong brand for yourself or your business in 2024. But what exactly is a brand, anyway?
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.
I’d like to add my two cents to this definition: the customer. After all, what is a brand without customers?
We, as marketers, often look at branding from the perspective of what we want our customers to know versus the value that they need from us.
For example, compare these two questions:
- What do you want to be known for?
- What do your ideal customers need from you to be content?
The triumph of your brand relies on question two, with elements of question one to support it.
For example, my customers don’t really care about each detailed step that I am going to take to make their business grow, but they do care that their business actually grows. To reassure them that it will, I share some case studies and processes, but those are simply facts that support my assertions that I can earn them the increased profit and growth they want.
In other words, my product (my process, skills and track record) is not my offer (which is their profit and growth). This finite but important distinction has the ability to change your messaging entirely. If you focus on your offer and use your product only to support to your assertions, you will always speak to (and thus reach) your ideal customers better. In today’s digital world, that reach means everything to your success.
To get good at differentiating your product from your offer, take a look at some of your favorite brands and try to differentiate the difference between their products/services and their offers. I bet the ones you relate to the most did a great job at focusing on their offer to you, the customer. As you recognize this in other brands, you will naturally carry offer-based messaging to your content as well. Happy branding!
