You want your brand to stand out. You want people to recognize it and know exactly what you do. Brand differentiation is all about separating your brand from the competitors, no matter how long they have been in existence. In order to do this, you need to differentiate yourself in a way that will cause customers to remember your brand and associate it with excellence. So how can you accomplish this? Here are four steps for making your brand stand out from the crowd of competitors:
Step 1: Conduct Brand Research
Your brand is your reputation. It’s the image people have in their head when they think of you, your products, and your services. And in today's world, where social media allows even the smallest companies to reach a global audience, brand research is more important than ever. You may think you know what your customers want, but without research, there's no way to know for sure. You can't rely on assumptions or intuition. The only way to truly understand how people perceive you is to conduct brand research.
Brand research is the process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data about your brand to understand how it is perceived by your target audience. It’s a powerful tool that can help you understand what people think of your brand and how competitors are positioning themselves in the market. Brand research is especially critical for new or small businesses that are short on time and budget. You don’t have time to waste, so you need to make sure you’re focusing on the right things from day one.
Step 2: Build A List of Potential Differentiators
Ever tried to explain what your company does and found yourself struggling to articulate how you are different? Perhaps your audience doesn't understand the difference between you and your competitors. You might have a hard time explaining why you should be hired rather than the person next to you. We are all aware that being different is important but it can also be a tough nut to crack. The best way to make an impact is by knowing what makes your company different and showing it off every step of the way.
As a next step in the research phase, list potential differentiators that could set your product or service apart from the crowd. Consider what would make a customer choose your product over the competition. There are many things that can be used as unique selling propositions, including price, discounts, exceptional service, and more. These can be used to develop the voice of your brand. For example, if you want to position yourself as an expert in your industry, you may use long-form copy with technical language on your website. But if you want to be seen as friendly and approachable, you might opt for shorter sentences and a casual tone of voice.
Step 3: Narrow Down Your List
So now that you have a list of differentiators, what do you do with it? It’s time to review your list. Look for any overlapping or similar statements. If a number of statements seem very similar, choose the one that is most powerful and/or true for your business and eliminate the others. Next, look at the remaining items on your list. Ask yourself if each statement is clearly relevant to your customers. Will they be able to understand how each differentiator will benefit them? If not, reword the statement so that it is more customer-focused.
Finally, think about how your differentiators will be relevant to all of the various marketing channels that you use: website, proposals, sales meetings, social media posts, print ads, etc. Make sure they can be easily adapted to each one in a way that will still make sense to potential customers. A good way to test this is to share your list with a few people who are not in your industry and ask them which ones stand out the most. This can give you some insight into how clear (or confusing) your differentiators really are.
Step 4: Test Your Differentiators
Your brand and your brand differentiators should not be based on guesswork. While you might think you know what your customers want from your business, the only way to know for sure is to test your differentiators. Testing may seem time-consuming and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. A simple survey can answer many of the same questions that more complex testing methods could. Just make sure to ask smart questions — questions that will give you actionable insights.
Differentiators come in all shapes and sizes and some are stronger than others, and they can change over time. You may have a great differentiator today but not tomorrow when your competitors catch up to you. This means you should be constantly looking for new or additional differentiators, and testing them with customers as soon as possible.