4 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand in a Congested Marketplace

 

The beauty of free enterprise, capitalism, or whatever you want to call the backbone of an economy is that anyone from anywhere can launch a business.

As a result of this freedom, the Marketplace is full of small businesses and locally-owned enterprises. This makes the marketplace congested.

This high competition makes it challenging for even the most successful brands to stand out. As a business owner, or marketer tasked with elevating the status of your brand, it’s imperative that you find a way to rise above the crowd and overcome the burgeoning list of industry competitors.

Here are four tips to get you started:

1. Pursue alternative pricing

The quickest way to get noticed is to offer alternative pricing that stands in stark contrast to the competition. There are three general ways of doing this.

Low pricing: The first option to consider is low pricing. If you’re able to sell a similar product or service at a lower price point than the competition, you’re going to garner attention. This is obviously much harder than it looks, though, or everyone would offer lower prices.

Premium pricing: The opposite strategy involves developing premium pricing. If your products are extremely high quality and your target market has the budget to pay a higher price, then you can benefit from differentiating your brand in this manner.

Unique structure: The third option is to offer a unique pricing structure. If everyone in your industry offers a 90-day retainer for services, consider offering a month-to-month payment structure. People like alternatives and a unique option can grab attention.

It’s a good idea to start with dollar signs, since most markets are based on how much products and services cost the consumer. However, it’s not the only way to stand out.

2. Devote your brand to customer service

Establishing a customer-centric culture is the second best way to stand out in a crowded industry. According to Andrew O'Connor, director of search at American Addiction Centers, customer centricity is important for three reasons:

• The balance of power has shifted to consumers, who can now amplify their pleasure or displeasure with businesses via social media.
• Automated business models have made personal customer service less frequent.
• Long-term loyalty of a customer base is the best way to guarantee profitability for years to come.

By building a customer-centric company, you can stand out against the collection of other organizations in your industry that turn a blind eye to customer issues.

3. Forge partnerships

At some point, you have to realize you can’t do everything on your own. Even the most powerful brands find it valuable to forge partnerships and relationships with other businesses. This doesn’t necessarily mean the competition, though. This isn’t about mergers or acquisitions. This is about cross-industry partnerships that help you offset deficiencies and leverage resources you don’t have.

The Coca-Cola Company and Ericsson recently did this to help rural communities that needed access to better resources. Are there any businesses in other industries that you could combine forces with to strengthen an aspect of your business or increase recognition?

4. Don’t be afraid to pivot

The term “pivot” often gets exaggerated in entrepreneurial circles. People assume it means you completely abandon your core business activity and spin off in other direction. It’s not always this dramatic, though. Sometimes a pivot is nothing more than a very subtle decision to specialize.

For example, let’s say you’re a full-service landscaping business that earns 75 percent of your revenue from mowing lawns. Instead of competing with the other lawn care companies in your area that offer the same services, why not dedicate all of your resources to offering cost-friendly mowing? It’s part pivot, part specialization.

The majority of businesses in crowded industries fail to stand out because they don’t do anything to differentiate their brands. They simply do what everyone else does, content with scraping by and ignoring the scary proposition of taking a risk.

While part of the problem is the sheer volume of competition in industries such as law, health and construction, the other half of the problem is that many business owners are afraid of standing out. They like the idea of differentiation, but when it comes down to taking action, they can’t seem to step out on a limb.

If you truly want to stand out in a competitive industry, you must take action. The tips mentioned in this article are a great place to start. As millions of new businesses launch in 2016, it’s important that you stop following the crowd and start forging your own path.

Culled from Entrepreneur

9 Strategies To Revive Your Brand

 

Commoditization is a fact of market. I always remember that great observation by VJ Govindarajan that “Strategy starts dying the moment it is created”. It dies because its (potential) effectiveness dies and with that, its relative value.

That idea, transposed to brand is, in reality, what commoditization is: the (slow) death of relevant value. However, there are strategies you can put in place to reverse the speed and/or pace of that commoditizing effect. Here are nine ways I outlined to a leadership forum in Malaysia recently to decommoditize your offering and reassert its branded value.

In the presentation itself, I focused on actual commodities, but the principles are in fact applicable to any brand that doesn’t command the value that it needs to, or once did:

1. Think of the product in new ways – when you redefine what something is or could be, you reframe its context and it’s much easier to redefine what it can be used for. When you stop thinking of milk as a drink, for example, and start thinking of it as a food, as Fonterra did, you change the scope of the product you’re working with in so many ways.

2. Redefine who you want to be a brand to – if the current audience places a declining level of value on it, think about who might be able to use it in ways that enable you to regain value. Starbucks redefined the value of coffee globally by making coffee hip, urbane and tailored to individual taste. Now they’re looking to do the same thing with tea. In a world that really does believe it’s seen or searched it all, discovery is a powerful consumer motive.

3. Change what it looks like – sometimes changing the value of a commodity can be as simple as changing how it appears to others. Think about the difference in pricing and perception between bottled beer and beer on tap. However, new packaging alone won’t make up for a product that doesn’t add value. What it can do is signal the unrealized value that you want consumers to take up on.

4. Formulate your offer in different ways – the water industry changed how we think of water by adding vitamins and/or carbon dioxide and then segmenting those offers to specific audiences. Today, the world spends more than $100 billion a year on bottled water. What could you do to what you have to make it more than it is right now?

5. Name it in different ways – the deer industry in New Zealand renamed its venison offering “cervena” to differentiate it from deer meat sourced from elsewhere and to make a strong country-of-origin play. If you’re selling copper and everyone else is selling copper, what can you call your copper to distinguish it from what people can source anywhere. Again – renaming alone won’t be enough. In the case of cervena, the change in name spoke to an idea that consumers were interested in, and eliminated the concern, amongst American consumers, that they were eating Bambi.

6. Package it in different ways – the red meat industry is now starting to segment its offer and to assign different perceptions of value to cuts and breeds that not too long ago would all have just been beef. Angus is a classic example. Others are packaging along ethical lines to put daylight between themselves and others and to appeal to consumers who are prepared to pay more for feel good foods. Cage-free and free-range eggs are part of this trend. (What’s interesting for those interested in moral labeling, however, is how those terms and others can be defined in some jurisdictions. It doesn’t necessarily mean what it appears to mean.)

7. Distribute it in different ways – changing the distribution channel can be a highly effective way to transform your white label product into something valued by a more specific audience. iTunes rebuilt the value of music by reinventing the concept of the single into a single digital track and allowing people to buy the music they wanted in a new way, at a new price. Tablets are having the same effect on books and magazines – redefining how consumers access content and buy it. It’s a very different value equation than it used to be – but at least it’s a value equation.

8. Price point it in different ways – This is a particularly effective approach when combined with segmentation. Go after various parts of the market with products that demonstrate various levels of value add and are price pointed accordingly – e.g. a bulk product at a bulk price, a high end or specialized product priced at a top-end price, and a consumer focused product that may even operate at flexible price points. Forced into what was close to a death-spiral for many, the airline industry repriced to find new ways of achieving yield. First, they cemented the front-end profit by giving business and first class passengers more space and more comfort to protect margins. Then they debundled their economy offering, adding new categories like Premium Economy, cramming in more seats in cattle class and instigating fees for service that have kept the asking price low whilst charging at every point for things that were once considered included. This evolution hasn’t exactly been a success from the travelers’ point of view, but it has certainly forced a rethink on what is paid for, and how.

9. Wrap a different story around it – New storylines can change how people perceive a product. Water, beer and wine have all used stories to engage consumers and to deliver a new sense of worth. Increasingly, there are opportunities to link undifferentiated products to differentiating stories around environment, supply chain, conduct, purpose and cause. Psychologist Dr. Norman Holland, in an interview with Stephen Denny, explains why: “When we adopt a brand for our own use, we integrate it into the stories of our daily lives.” Once integrated of course, that storied brand has new value for buyers because now it’s personal.

A note of caution. While, as outlined above, there are a number of ways to stave off deterioration and even to restore value to goods whose value has decayed, there is also no denying that the product or brand you make has a best-before date in terms of margin. Unless you assume commoditization, and continually look for ways to slow its advance or reverse its influence, it will get your brand in the end.

The key to successfully staging a resurgence in the value of your brand is to think of each of the nine tactics outlined above as a multiplier. To an extent, the more multipliers you can employ simultaneously, the greater the chances that you can relift your brand. Focus them specifically on the key needs and unmet desires of your (new) target market. So, for example:

In a market, where your brand has been painted into a corner – I might look to use these three approaches:

Think of the product in new ways X Change what it looks like X Distribute it in different ways

Or if the market you’ve traditionally targeted is treating your brand like a commodity and threatening to start a price war, I might combine these four:

Redefine who you want to be a brand to X Package it in different ways X Price point it in different ways X Wrap a different story around it

When you change how a product is viewed and accessed, you open the door to changing how it can be marketed.

Culled from Brand Strategy Insider

10 Easy Marketing Tips for Increased Brand Visibility

 

Marketing your business can seem like a daunting task, and sometimes we just need a little guidance to set things in motion.

Here are some tips that you can easily implement into your monthly routine to ensure that your brand is communicating properly with your target audience. Follow these steps and you will be on your way to engaging your audience and seeing progress in your success!

Be personal and authentic in your communication

With social media at the forefront of our marketing and communications platform, it is imperative that you communicate on a personal level. People are more inclined to participate with your brand if they know there is a real live person behind the brand identity who cares about them. Newsletters are more appreciated if they’re written from a personal perspective, addressing the individual with expert advice that can help the audience reach their goals.

Leverage your Network

Your friends, colleagues and social network are your biggest asset. Ask for referrals and testimonials from people you know or have done great work for. As is tradition, we are more likely to purchase a product if our friends have had a great experience with it. Create a “Friend Referral Program” or provide other incentives — like deals, discounts and rewards on your services — when people say good things about your company. Doing this consistently will greatly expand your network reach to a genuinely interested audience.

Google rankings

As we all know, getting to the top of Google can be an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. Have no fear: there are lots of ways to build your search engine optimization rankings without blowing your budget.

Our number one recommendation? Put your business on Google maps: this is a great way to get to the top of the list! Being consistently active on Twitter and Google Plus are fun, easy ways to increase your Google ranking, while adding shareable links to your Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest posts drives traffic to your website or blog.

Create your own TIPS

People like tips! A quick, fun list is a great way to provide useful information to your audience. If you want to kick it up a notch, create a video for them! Video is a great way to show the face behind the brand, creating an indelible personal connection.

Photos are king

People love to share inspirational, sarcastic and funny photos. Join the trend by putting together some current text and quotes that appeal to your crowd and the type of people you think would appreciate it. This is a great way to access your fans’ network without being “markety.” People will see who created the image and share it via the original source (you), creating brand visibility and adding a few likes along the way. Plus, you’ll probably make someone’s day!

Collaborate with the competition

Working with other like-minded business owners can help promote new ideas and products. Because your audience already exists on social media — and so does theirs — collaborating is a natural and friendly way to seek out social media users who are interested in learning more about the products or lifestyle you offer.

Create contest giveaways

People love to win things! Especially if those things are highly valuable, unusual or difficult to acquire. Make sure what you’re giving away is a conversation starter, something that people want to tell others about. Use Facebook ads to further promote your contest, as the ads employ a targeted tagging system to ensure you’re reaching the right people.

Knowledge is power

Know your audience and your competition. Follow the old corporate adage: don’t try to be something for everyone, aim to be everything to someone. Before you jump in the deep end, learn to understand whom it is you’re communicating to and what value your product or service can add to their lives.

To do: create online polls using Survey Monkey, pay attention to Google Analytics and Facebook Insights, and most importantly, listen carefully to responses. Offer an incentive for participating, like a free coffee or a gift card. Speaking of listening, keep your ears open to what the competition is doing. Be bold and willing to stand out and strategize over the long-term!

Partner with a charitable organization

Choose a cause you love and partner up with an organization whose mission is similar to yours. Get your staff and team out there helping out with a soup kitchen, throw an event and split the proceeds, or host an auction. You’re already a good Samaritan, so why not share your social consciousness with others? This alone helps your brand stand out and become a valued part of your community.

Capture information

Almost every message you put out there should come with a call to action. Add a newsletter sign-up form to your website, make a database of loyal clientele, and reach out to them on a regular basis. Offering incentives — “Sign up to our newsletter and receive 10 tips to...” or “Share this contest for more chances to WIN..” — is the strongest way to get your audience to participate, and it lets you find out what works for different segments of your market niche. Show them that you are grateful: a simple reward goes a long way.

Marketing is the key element to a successful business. TRW Consult, a brand and marketing agency, works on marketing campaigns regularly and can help your business make the best decisions. So contact them now!

 

 

Huffington Post

 

5 Reasons Your Brand Communication is Turning Customers Away

Brand communication is more than a logo and a few lines. It is deliberate and strategic. However, some brand managers fail to realise this and rush into brand campaigns only to rush out when the flame of their eagerness is extinguished.

Drawing more customers to a particular brand involves careful research and planning, just the same way keeping your customer base requires effort. But when the message is distorted or inappropriate for the segment, we see brand communications sending customers away instead of attracting them like a magnet. Here are some mistakes to avoid:

 

Inadequate knowledge of target audience

If you don’t understand your target audience, your brand communications are already doomed from the start. Imagine passing sensitive information to the wrong audience. That’s what not properly identifying your audience looks like in brand communications. You should understand their expectations, demands, the values they identify with and the kind of brands they favour. This background information can make communications more targeted and useful.

 

Not spending much on good communications

Great brand communication is a product of great investments. A serious brand takes consistent investment in products, consumers and itself as its watchword. There are no two ways about it; when you fail to invest in brand communications, you are creating a channel for distortions in your message.

The signals of poor investment begin to show in form of poor messaging, shy social media messaging, lacklustre brand names and web content lacking direction. To remedy this, you could always hire communications agencies like TRW Consult to help you.

 

Seeing brand communications as just good grammar

Although grammar and correct spellings are important, great brand communications are more than good grammar, and of course more than correct spellings. Brand communication is a combination of good design and finesse in the development, management and dissemination of messages. The best brands recognise the value of great designs and streamlined messages in their brand communications that speak to the deepest aspirations of their audience. They use both unique visuals and captivating vocabulary to create connections with their customers.

 

Inconsistency

One of the secrets of great brand communications is consistency. It is important in building loyalty, credibility and familiarity. Great brands have achieved their grand status by keeping faith with their personality, promotions and communication, and in fact, with every interaction with their audience. Take the logo of Coca-Cola in the past 130 years for example; its consistency has made it easily recognizable over the years, thereby contributing to its huge customer and audience base.

It is important to note that why consistency is necessary in brand communications, it does not end here. It extends to quality as well.

 

Limiting your sources of feedback

Some brands are so obsessed with positive reviews that they fail to see a constructive negative review that has the potential to enhance their brand. Taking feedback from the right sources and expanding the net of your reviews will help you measure and set appropriate brand communications goals. Today, social media provides a great platform for reviews.

3 Tips To Stand Out In A Crowded Market

 

Elevating your brand so that it stands out among all the competition is a tough job.

No matter how much you think your brand or product is unique, there are always going to be similar options out there for people to choose from. The market is oversaturated and people are bombarded by advertisements telling them to buy this and that. Getting their attention and keeping it isn’t easy.

If it really is true that we see around 5000 marketing messages a day, then it goes without saying that differentiating yourself from the competition is absolutely necessary if you want your business to thrive.

If you want to stand out in a crowded market, here are three tips you need to try.

 

How to Stand Out from the Crowd

1. Put the people first

Once you realize not enough businesses prioritize their customers, it’ll become easier to center your strategy around them. You can automatically get ahead of the game by taking extra measures to satisfy your loyal customers.

Show customers you care by taking care of them and they’ll continue coming back. Make yourself stand out as a brand — no matter how popular or widespread you are — by putting people first not just by words like all businesses do, but by actions.

Set up a rewards program for people who keep coming back to you when so many other options exist. Since its app relaunch in 2016, Starbucks introduced their new and improved mobile loyalty rewards program where customers earn stars for every dollar spent and get free food and drink in return.

Users of this program make up a whopping 39 percent of Starbucks’ total sales. That’s an insane amount of revenue just from the app! And it’s only possible because Starbucks puts their customers first.

2. Make it simple

What’s more frustrating than trying to make an online purchase but failing because the process to do it is confusing or irritating? Almost nothing.

Potential customers aren’t going to jump through hoops to buy from you or learn more about your products. You have to make that process as stress-free and simple as possible for them.

On top of that, consumers expect a simple experience. If buying from you is a hassle or takes too much time, they’re going to skip to the next thing. Convenience is key if you want to retain loyal customers.

Scope out existing problems in your business model. Does the mobile experience work as seamlessly as the desktop version? Do glitches or broken links exist on your website? Is it as simple as A to B to C when customers try to check out an item? Is there a lack of customer service?

Apple has a specific formula they follow to ensure a simple and enjoyable experience for their customers which goes by the acronym APPLE:

• Approach customers with a personalized warm welcome
• Probe politely to understand all the customer’s needs
• Present a solution for the customer to take home today
• Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns
• End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return

The truth is, loopholes can exist anywhere in your model. What’s important is identifying them as soon as they occur and resolving the issues as quickly as possible. There are far too many businesses who don’t put themselves into the consumer’s shoes and create a less-than-satisfactory customer experience. You can stand out from the rest by ensuring you have the easiest buying process out there.

3. Humanize your brand

One of the worst mistakes competitors make is centering the buying process around the product and forgetting about the consumer. This is the fastest way to lose their interest and attention. If brands aren’t appealing to the people buying the products, they won’t get sold. Yet so many businesses fail to realize this and implement it into their strategies for better outcomes.

The best way to do this is to start a conversation.

Ask your consumer base what they love about your brand and what they could do without. Find out what makes their experience easier or more difficult. Set up a survey, poll or contact form on your homepage asking consumers what they think about the buying process and how accessible it is. This is the most direct way to get in touch with people’s honest opinions.

Over to you

In business, standing out from all the rest is tricky. You have to know who you’re selling to and what the people want if you’re going to succeed long-term. You also want to think outside the box and cater to your customers who keep coming back to you and love what you do. By centering your business around people instead of products, you’ll get through to a larger consumer base and appeal to people who care about your message.

Culled from Business2Community

7 Tips To Improve Your Brand Communication Strategy

 

Creating a brand is an effective strategy to reach out to your customers. But, it is certainly not a child’s play. Brand communication plays a crucial role in building a sturdy and robust brand. However, there are certain strategies and tactics that can be used in creating a persistent brand name.

How To Improve Your Brand Communication Strategy

How are big brands created? The journey from being an organization to a brand name that resonates with its customers is not an easy one. Brands are not made overnight. It is your customers who hold the power to turn your product/service into a hot selling brand! The key is communication. If the brand communication is clear and hits the audience in the right places, you’ve got a winner.

With social media as a powerful communication tool, every business has the means to directly communicate with its end user. Imagine the power to not just reward a loyal customer instantly, but also handle and retain a disgruntled customer with tact and ingenuity at that very moment when the user shares a bad experience. Here we discuss how you can establish such a resilient brand communication strategy and win your customers’ approval every single time. Even when you goof up. Yes, that’s right. When you build a strong relationship with your consumer based on trust and mutual admiration, your customers become your loyal brand evangelists. And they do forgive a slip up just like they forgive an erring friend. Confused? Let’s understand.

 

Finding Your Brand Voice

To find the right voice for your brand it is imperative to first figure out the following:

• Identify your buyer personas
  Learn and research your core customer groups. It’s the best way to get started when you are still looking for the right voice for your brand. The ideal way to know if you’re touching the right cords with your customers is to know what kind of customers you’re catering to.
• Know your USPs
  Once you figure out who you’re going to talk to, it’s time to understand what you’re going to talk about. What is the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of your product that makes it stand out from others? How is your brand giving value to the customer?
• Build a brand personality
  Given your USPs and buyer personas, choose a personality you wish to showcase to your customers. Ensure that your brand personality remains consistent throughout different channels and touchpoints. This will help consumers identify with your brand and connect in a better way.
• Choose your marketing mix
  With every business going digital, it’s best to recognize the most high-paying and valuable channels for your branding exercises. Choose media that suits your brand and is preferred by your target audience. Whether it’s social media, email marketing, or marketing event presentations, make sure it has the same brand voice.
  
  

How To Follow A Winning Brand Communication Strategy In 7 Easy Steps

1. Be Genuine And Honest

You don’t need celebrity brand ambassadors promoting your brand if your customers become your brand advocates. If they’re the ones talking about your brand, sharing with their peers and spreading positive word-of-mouth publicity for your brand, who needs anybody else. They are your most genuine and authentic agents of brand promotion. Therefore, it is your prerogative to ensure that all brand communication from your end is also genuine and spontaneous. Don’t use automated replies nor respond like a bot. A humanized, empathetic, and authentic brand voice builds an immediate connection with the audience which is built on trust. Don’t make your responses seem forced. Tackle them with a humane touch, always.

2. Create Conversations

When a customer shares a positive experience, go further than just saying ‘thank you’. Give open-ended responses and strike conversations that help your brand find its humanized voice. People love it when a brand takes the time to have a conversation with them – one on one. Even if it’s a fun and playful conversation, people will remember your brand more for how you made them feel. When you reach that stature of having natural real-time and positive conversations with your customers, soon they will be the ones doing your marketing for you.

3. Provide Relevant Content

In the world of brands, content is still the king. Creating content that appeals to the target audience and is yet relevant to your brand needs a bit of skill and practice, but it isn’t rocket science. It’s a wise and smart choice to always ask your audience to share, comment, vote, or suggest what they wish to see more of. When you listen to them, they will listen to you! In this way, your customers become the co-creators of your content.

4. Don’t Always Self-Promote

People don’t like brands that just gloat about themselves. Even in the real world, people don’t like those who can only talk about themselves. Similarly, brands that overtly promote themselves without offering any value to the client, are often at the risk of losing customers, and that too without any apparent reason.

5. Be Transparent

Being open and transparent, and letting your customers in on what’s going behind the scenes helps a brand earn the trust of customers. This practice not only helps the organization educate customers but also dispel rumors and improve brand awareness – all the while attaining a special respectful place in the consumer’s mind.

6. Post Some Content For Pure Fun And Customer Enjoyment

Post content that you think your audience will enjoy, just for the sake of fun and some light-hearted enjoyment. Do not put any link to your blog or any other Call-To-Action. This will send a strong message to your followers that you’re not just here to sell, but to delight and serve your audience. This will make the readers look forward to reading your content and also enhance the confidence they have in your brand.

7. Leverage Consumer-Generated Content

Pay close attention to what your customers are saying or sharing in forums/comments about your brand. And when you know what they want, act quick and give them what they want. Leveraging user-generated content is not as hard as it seems. As customers continue to take co-ownership and influence their favorite brands, companies should work on improving their product offerings based on that. Simply share consumer content and tweak your services/products/communication to give your audience exactly what they want.

With the advent of the digital age, the focus is now not how to market your product to the consumer, but how to market your product with your consumers! With these 7 tips of collaborative marketing, a branding communication strategy will work wonders by targeting its consumers effectively and successfully.

 

Culled from E Learning Industry

7 Steps To Attracting Customers Away From Your Competitors

 

One of the most lucrative ways to improve your business is to attract your competitor’s customers to your business. Consumers will switch brands and businesses if they can see real value, so you need to give them a pretty good reason to choose your business over your competitors.  

Thorough competitor analysis is the strategic way of developing a clearer picture of what’s happening in the market and giving you a basis to develop your own action plan. Follow the steps below to make your business irresistible to your competitor’s customers.

 

How To Attract More Customers (While Pulling Them Away From Your Competitors)

1. Lower your prices

Simply being the cheapest supplier can be an effective way to attract new customers, but what your business sells will have a major impact on how effective this technique will be. If your business sells commodity items such as books, CDs, DVDs etc., which are identical no matter which retailer sells them, consumers will look for the cheapest price. 

Value, however, is often related to price. An item that has a very low price can frequently be perceived as inferior. Look closely at the pricing structure of your competitors before slashing your own prices, as this could damage the brand value of your company.  

And value for money doesn’t simply mean more for your money, as the equation consumers use to decide what price they want to pay for any goods is complex. Attracting customers away from competitors may have a price component, but this isn’t the only factor consumers will use for goods that are not seen as commodities.

2. Create brand loyalty

Inviting customers to become part of your brand can be a powerful attractor. Companies such as Apple illustrate how successful strong brand values can be. Consumers want to be part of a group or tribe that not only delivers great goods or services but, also shows the people in their network they support the values of the brand they associate themselves with.

Trust and interest in a business’ customers and what they do are strong ways your business’ brand can become highly attractive to your competitor’s customers. The emotional ties your business can make via social media for instance can be highly effective. In addition, it has been shown that consumers who are emotionally connected to a brand are less price sensitive, which is why Apple can charge so much more for its products.

3. Raise your profile

As consumers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages, making your business stand out from the crowd is vital. Marketing of course has always been critical to all businesses. 

However, today, social media has enabled direct and highly personal connections to be made with groups and individuals. This granular marketing is a highly effective way to raise your business’ profile in the minds of your competitor’s customers.

Remember though that overt marketing and selling techniques can have a negative impact across social media networks. Discounts and competitions are proven to be highly popular with consumers. Offering these across your social networks could enable you to steal some of your competitor’s customers.

Consumers are also looking for help, support, value and something to share with their networks. Creating content for these groups delivers these shareable materials, which could mean your brand and business becomes more desirable to buy from than your competitors.

4. Encourage brand advocates 

One of the most powerful ways to attract customers from your competitors is via word-of-mouth. A personal recommendation – often on social media – can have a profound impact on consumers looking for goods and services. Indeed, Nielsen discovered that word-of-mouth recommendations are the most credible. No amount of advertising can beat a personal recommendation from a trusted friend, colleague or family member. Look closely at your business’ key influencers. These are groups and individuals that have shown a keen interest in your brand and its goods or services. Your business should support these groups or individuals, as they can often be the start of a recommendation that is then widely disseminated across what could be vast networks. Brands can encourage brand advocacy through referral marketing strategies and techniques. As a small business owner, this can be an effective low-cost acquisition channel if done well.

5. Find the gaps

Think about the market sectors your business is trading within. You should be constantly looking to innovate and fill the gaps with new goods and services. One of the most effective ways to attract customers away from competitors is to not only offer something unique, but something that you know is missing from the market. 

Use social media to constantly assess your market. Ask your customers what goods or services they would love to see become available. Your competitors may come along with something similar later, but your business was first to market, which can gain new loyal customers.

6. Support your customers

According to Oracle, 89% of consumers would move to a competitor if they had a poor customer service experience. Today thanks to social media, customer service has become an almost real-time exercise. Twitter is now one of the most used channels for consumers to contact the businesses they buy from.

Moreover, consumers are using their experience of a business’ customer service support as a means to differentiate businesses in any given market, which they use to decide where to spend their money. Making a personal connection to them is critical. SpotOn revealed that 41% of consumers buy from businesses that send personalized emails.

It’s a simple equation: the better your customer service the more customers your business will attract – and more importantly – retain over the long-term with high levels of loyalty. 

7. Invest in m-commerce

How consumers now connect and buy from businesses has changed. The internet has of course become a massive channel for commerce, but mobile commerce looks set to eclipse even the huge success seen with e-commerce. Businesses that can embrace the mobile space will be highly attractive to customers – especially those in the lucrative millennial group.

Businesses that can use the mobile channel with dedicated websites and apps will be able to gain the customers looking to do even more with their phones and tablets. As figures from eMarketer suggest that nearly 50% of m-commerce sales are completed with smartphones, businesses need to ensure they are fully supporting this burgeoning channel across their businesses.

And the app economy shows no sign of slowing. According to the Business of Apps global revenue from in-app purchases could reach USD $189 billion by 2020. What is clear for all businesses, is if they can expand into m-commerce this could be a massive attractor for competitor customers.

Getting the particulars right can be a big deal. In that case, you need to reach out to a specialist agency like TRW Consult to assist you.

 

Culled from Fleximize

7 Ways to Get Your Customers to Actively Promote Your Brand

 

In the startup realm, certain principles stand out as essential to lasting growth in a company. Customer retention, for instance, trumps customer acquisition in terms of overall value. And brand loyalty is one of the most important elements that lead to higher customer-retention rates.

Brand loyalty is worth prioritizing in any business, of course, but there’s one level of brand commitment that goes above and beyond just loyalty: brand evangelism.

Whereas "brand familiarity" describes a customer's awareness of a brand (and, hopefully, his/her comfort with it), and "brand loyalty" describes a customer's commitment to one brand over competitor brands, "brand evangelism" describes customers who are more than loyal -- they’re outspoken and active advocates of your brand.

So, not only are brand evangelists more committed than the average brand loyalist, they’ll work on your behalf to attract more people to your brand. Clearly, brand evangelism is a nice setup. Now, how can you encourage it?

Here are seven ways:

1. Differentiate your brand, sharply.

Some of the biggest fan bases in sports have arisen out of a response to a fierce rivalry. By similarly giving customers a diametrically opposed “enemy,” you'll steer them into being more likely to vocally and deeply align themselves with your brand.

Take advantage of this tendency, by sharply differentiating your brand from those of your competitors’ -- not necessarily making enemies of them, but still making the average customer experience dramatically different.

2. Focus on loyalty first.

Brand evangelism is the last threshold in a series of increasingly intense brand relationships; first comes familiarity, and loyalty must come after that, if you hope to cultivate more evangelists.

There are several stages to this, as loyalty warrants its own article, but the basics should be under your control; give users a great experience, keep them coming back for more and be consistent and visible in your branding efforts.

3. Dole out individual attention.

If you want stand-out customers, you have to give them stand-out experiences. That means doling out individual forms of attention to make memorable, unique brand impressions on certain members of your community.

For example, go above and beyond the call of duty during especially tough or unique customer service cases, or call out specific social media followers and promote their material to show your appreciation. Those people will remember you.

4. Create a community.

Brand evangelists’ loyalties deepen the more they feel that they’re truly a part of something. As users on your app or website, they have a certain degree of personal investment.

But as members of a thriving community, they'll offer a level of loyalty that's even stronger. For example, you could create a user-driven help forum, or have some other on-site feature where users contribute their own content and talk to one other.

5. Encourage active participation.

Participation does a few things for you. First, every act of participation makes your target evangelist more loyal to your brand -- think of it as a kind of ritual action that becomes a habit.

Second, every act of participation increases the overall visibility of consumer brand affection, and brand affection is contagious, to say the least. Get your customers posting frequently about your brand by making new announcements, asking engaging questions, and generally contributing to the community.

6. Incorporate feedback.

This is the mark of a champion brand, and it’s going to help your company on all three levels of brand relationship. Collect and really listen to feedback about your brand, products and services, and when you encounter pieces of information that make sense, implement them.

That kind of response shows that you listen to your customers and care about what they say, which in turn inspires more loyalty. You can even give shout-outs to the individuals who submitted those pieces of feedback, to make them feel like an even more ingrained part of your brand community.

7. Make it easy to be an evangelist.

No matter how excitable they are, most people are still lazy. They're not going to go completely out of their way to evangelize your brand -- you have to make it easy for them. Offer ample opportunities for your users to post about you on social media (with contests, discussion opportunities, etc.), and make signup and participation in your community constructs both simple and rewarding.

These strategies aren’t foolproof, and you’ll need to allow some wiggle room for adjustment and development, but with these seven tactics in place, you’ll equip your startup with almost everything you need to cultivate a community of brand evangelists.

Don’t expect every customer to become an evangelist, of course, and don’t try to force it to happen unnaturally. Just know that a few nudges in the right direction can make a huge difference for your customer enthusiasm -- and your bottom line.

Culled from Entrepreneur

Lady Gaga Taught Me These 4 Secrets to Building a Successful Brand

 

Lady Gaga is on fire ... again. With her recent breakthrough performance in A Star Is Born, she is generating a lot of Oscar buzz. In the film, Gaga plays Ally alongside Bradley Cooper's Jack -- a couple whose personal relationship struggles as Ally's professional life takes off. With many publications betting she will shine during award season, Gaga is hot.

But, this isn't Gaga's first rodeo. Having launched her singing career around 2007, she has been a chart-topping role model for thousands of fans, broken records, taken home countless awards and influenced the industry.

Yes, she is an international star. But, she is also an extremely savvy businesswoman -- and I have learned everything from her when it comes to building my successful business, Archangel, which helps mission-driven entrepreneurs, and its annual conference, Archangel Summit.

It was around 2013 when I started following Gaga. I was watching the music industry - and it was in a decline. Yet, there were some artists who were killing it. Lady Gaga was one of them. While she had been around (and super successful for years), she was continuing to get stronger and stronger, despite the current landscape. At the time, I knew nothing about her, but I was intrigued by her success. What was so special about her? I began my quest to figure that out.

 

Secrets to Building a Successful Brand

 

Here is what I learned from Lady Gaga on what it takes to build a successful business - and what you can learn from her, too.

 

1. Get crystal clear on who you want to help.

It is so important to find the right customers for your company.

Like a lot of people, Lady Gaga is attracted to people who were like her. She has written countless times about being bullied in school and feeling like an outsider. It was these same people she went after when she decided to build her community (more on that in a bit).

For me, I needed my perfect avatar to target. I wanted to help entrepreneurs like me: those who are mission-driven and want to create an impact. To find these people, I met with anyone and everyone and started asking a million questions to get to the root issues and how I could be of help. I started to look for patterns to define my mission.

For you, focus on whom you want to help right off the bat. Take a stand. Look at your core values, what issues are important to you and your mission. This will help create cohesion and bonds among your core base. Look for those people who fit into that community. But also, just as importantly, do not try to please everyone. You can't.

 

2. Build a tribe.

 

Next, you need to find these people -- a lot of these people -- and build your tribe.

When it came to building her community and ambassadors, Lady Gaga didn't go for the traditional, top 40 pop audience. She went after the fringe -- the people who were bullied, those who didn't fit in, the outcasts -- and made them her family. And then she branded her tribe -- "Little Monsters" -- which was so important.

Every year, for our Archangel Summit, we sell out, with more than 3,000 people attending. We are able to accomplish this by building our own tribe. When I launched the entire Archangel platform, I didn't start off with a product, service, experience or event and try to sell people on that business model. Rather, I started off with a tribe and asked out how could I serve them.

By going down this path, it is much easier, in the end, for entrepreneurs to sell. After finding this passionate audience, you can figure out the most common challenges this tribe is facing and how you, as the founder, can be the most helpful.

 

3. Focus on being memorable.

 

Whatever you do, be remembered.

Usually, when artists perform, they do pretty much the same act in each city. It can be a bit, well, blah. But, Gaga customizes her shows to each specific audience -- adding in personal touches to make each performance memorable. It is very micro level. So, people throw things on stage, and she interacts with them. I have seen her do it with a Canadian flag, which she danced with; a denim jacket she put over her dress; and a touching moment, when a concertgoer named Brittany tossed up a letter. Lady Gaga stopped the set, opened the letter, learned that the girl had just come out to her parents, who didn't accept it, and asked Brittany on stage. She then sang directly to her. I am not rehashing this story for no reason; I am doing so because I remember every single moment of that concert.

In each instance, she made people feel special, like they belonged.

For us, I go crazy when it comes to the day of the Archangel Summit event. It isn't just panels and keynotes, but also Cirque du Soleil-style performances. I do this to not only keep people energized, but because I haven't seen it anywhere else.

Do the same for your own business. Do things that don't scale -- and they don't have to be such a grand level as having trapeze artists swinging through your event. For instance, you can insert personalized videos into emails, thanking someone for her purchase. Or send a special thank-you card after your service. Whatever you choose, you just need to show people you care about them.

 

4. Keep the momentum.

 

There are only so many product launches you can have, events you can hold or online courses you can unveil. Between those big milestones, keep the community going.

Lady Gaga does it by creating a special, almost secretive culture. She and her Little Monsters greet each other with the "Monster Claw" sign and use words like "monster hugs" to show affection for each other. They have their own social media platform where they can interact all year round, and a strong Facebook page where Gaga often posts.

What I have done that can work for any founder is create a strong social media group. (Some people do this with Google, others with Facebook.) In it, we highlight stories of community members and the impact they're creating, we co-create our events with the tribe (for instance, asking which speakers to have for future events) and we share strategies, to name a few ways we engage.

During the year, we also keep people engaged by continuing to educate them with webinars, email newsletters and smaller, more intimate events. These all help to continue to develop this community, so when our next major event occurs, it isn't hard to sell out.

Culled from Entrepreneur