Stick to One Brand Strategy…or Else!

Having spent 25+ years of developing and implementing brand-marketing campaigns, I have come to several conclusions regarding brand strategy. Today, not only do you need to have an intriguing value proposition, you need to find a way to say something, blog something, market something or publish something with a truly unique wording.

Words matter. They should grow out of your single-minded, simple brand strategy. If your strategy is anything but simple, start over. Once you’ve accomplished that step, you can begin your brand messaging.

Here are five quick marketing tips:

1) Start local.

There are almost always places to try out your products and services marketing in your local community. These types of contacts make for some of your best research sources. Not only will you usually find a very willing party who will provide you with honest feedback, you’ll find a group of people who already know you and can offer you honest feedback on your new idea or offering.

Such insight can provide you with the confidence you need to spread your message across a much larger network, wider geography and across multiple markets. This can be your real-world feedback without sacrificing your national reputation, in case you find that changes are required.

2) Establish an “About this Product” website page that details your new product’s attributes and ask for honest feedback.

Perhaps you have a totally new product you would like to launch. This approach is a low risk way to gain further insights into accuracy of your planning and judge whether you are on the right track.

3) Review all of the product benefits and services you are offering and identify three main positional points.

For example, if you are introducing a new set of services to a business-to-business market, it would be essential to know what price point your prospective customers are willing to pay for your new product or service. To find out what it is, write an article that details the key benefits of your offering and include potential ROI projections for new users. Contrast these projections with those that do not use your product. This article can also be turned into a white paper that you can distribute to many different online websites that are interested in learning about your thoughts on a specific topic.