As a promotional products distributor, you are in the business of branding. In an overly commoditized marketplace, if you want to grow your business, you must lead by example with a strong brand that differentiates you from the rest by establishing your expertise and authority in the marketplace.
What makes a strong brand?
Simply put, a strong brand doesn’t look like any of their competitors in the eyes of their market. It also communicates their value and reason for existing in a way that draws interest, connects with customers on a deeper level and compels them to action.
Crafting a differentiated brand it’s easier than you think. With a little direction, you can shape your brand into a distinct representation of your company that attracts the right type of clients.
At Action Marketing, we’ve been developing brands for clients for a hot minute, so in order to guide you a bit, I’ve laid out the six components you need to address to develop your unique brand.
The 6 Components of a Brand
1. Purpose
Your brand purpose is the reason your company exists—besides making you money to pay your bills. It has to do with how your products and services help your clients. You could have picked any other business, so why this one? Think in terms of your customers and how they benefit from working with you beyond the on-time delivery of properly printed goods. Everyone does that. Think about why this is important to you. That’s your purpose.
A clear brand purpose won’t resonate with all buyers, but it will appeal to your key demographic and make your brand relevant to them.
2. Brand Promise
Your brand promise tells your customers what they can expect from working with you. It’s the added value and experience your customers will receive every single time they interact with your company, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors’.
3. Your Target Audience Profile
You can’t be all things to all people. When you know exactly who your perfect buyer is, in great detail, you’ll be able to speak to what’s important to them. They’ll want to do business with you because you “get” them. That’s why you must have a deep understanding of how they think, what their challenges, concerns, and motivations are in terms of the solutions you provide. You may have more than one type of ideal customer, therefore it’s important to understand each one in depth, so you talk to each in the most relevant way to them.
4. Marketing Key Message
A strong marketing message is key to attract and keep your most profitable clients. By consistently and clearly communicating what you do and who you help, it connects your business to your audience and moves them into action. An effective marketing message taps into what’s important and relevant to your target audience, and makes them feel confident you understand their business challenges and what’s important to them, and therefore that your business is the best choice.
5. Your Voice
Your style and point of view is a very important branding component. It represents the personality of your business, that when aligned with yours it becomes relatable and authentic. We help you define your tonality and how you want your brand to come across. Maybe your style is authoritative, or maybe you want to appear as creative, fun or forward-thinking. Once you define your style, we help you infuse it into your brand the right way.
6. Visual Identity
From designing your new logo to determining the look and feel of your brand, our skilled designers translate your business personality, what you do and how you want to be perceived into unique professional graphic representations. Having it done professionally means you receive a comprehensive Brand Identity Package. This includes original files of your logo that meet industry standards formats, as well as guidelines specifying your colors, fonts, style parameters, logo layouts, among other brand information. The purpose of this is that your staff can use the proper logo in the proper way when creating visuals for documents, and also supply vendors to ensure the best logo reproduction and consistency across all your materials, every time.
The Point
But, how do you develop a distinct brand? By understanding who your ideal clients are, clearly communicating to them that you understand their needs and love to help. You do that using the right content, presenting consistent great visuals and keeping it real.
If you found this helpful, feel free to explore the resources section of ActionMarketingCo.com, made especially to help distributors learn what works in marketing their business in the digital age.
This article was first published in The Action Marketing Blog.
