Have you noticed how some brands seem to emerge out of nowhere and succeed overnight? What is their secret? What exactly have they done to get noticed and thrive?
Standing out in an oversaturated market can, by all means, be a struggle. But here is the secret – there is no such thing as overnight success. Successful brands have put a lot of time, energy, resources, and hard work into their growth.
And in order to be successful, that’s what you need to do as well.
Here are three practical tips to help you leverage your brand and stand out from the crowd.
TIP #1: BE ORIGINAL
“Be creative,” “Be Different,” “Think outside the box” – you’ve heard these phrases many times before, but what exactly do they mean for your branding efforts?
When everything you can think of has already been tried and tested, being original can be a challenge. Coming up with new ideas and new solutions for positioning, marketing, development, and other business areas is not an easy task, but don’t let that discourage you.
Here are some of the steps you can try to help make your brand stand out:
- Acknowledge your brand’s unique points: Every brand has its own authentic self with its personality, voice and identity. Know exactly what makes your business different and showcase those unique points throughout your branding statements, visual identity and marketing collaterals.
- Have confidence in your brand: Instead of constantly comparing your business to your competitors’, focus instead on finding insights about your industry and target audience that will lead you to “a-ha!” moments and help you come up with never-before-seen solutions.
- Try something new: It could be creating a marketing plan in an innovative way, trying a new video editing technique, looking at a problem from a new perspective or finding a new angle to address a common issue. It’s important to keep your mind open, constantly be on the lookout for inspiration and test new ideas frequently.
When you know what makes your brand different and you feel confident about it, it will be easier for you to represent your business in a truly authentic way to engage and delight your audience.
TIP #2: BE TRANSPARENT
One of the best tactics to make your brand stand out is to be transparent. It means not only showing off when you’re successful but also being open about failures and unfortunate outcomes.
Every business makes its fair share of mistakes, bad decisions, and wrong opportunity interpretations, but not everyone feels comfortable talking about them, especially not in public.
If you can overcome that feeling and start having difficult conversations with your teammates, executives, clients, stakeholders, and the industry at large, it can help you and your company become recognized as one of the authorities and game-changers in your niche.
This is especially true for B2B companies. Transparency should become one of the main principles of your B2B marketing strategy and you should stay honest with your customers every step of their journey – from conveying clear messages through your website to resolving customer support issues in a transparent fashion.
Transparency is also key to developing trust and fostering loyalty from your employees, clients, customers, and stakeholders alike.
TIP #3: BE RESPONSIBLE
To elevate your brand in the era of conscious consumerism, when customers are looking to connect and engage with socially, environmentally, and culturally responsible brands, you should know what you stand for and clearly define your brand’s core values.
Your brand’s core values can include both your personal and professional values, especially if you are an entrepreneur or you own a small business. Your core values may also refer to social, ethical, and moral principles that you uphold and cherish.
If you are not sure what your values are, you can start by asking yourself questions like:
Why did I start this brand? Why is it important to me? Why do I care so much about bringing my brand to my audience? Why should my audience care about my brand?
You can take it a step further and write a brand manifesto to help your potential customers see whether their values align with yours.
Of course, it’s not enough just to have values written on paper. You need to get really invested in actively operating under the principles incorporated into your company’s culture.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Following trends and trying to outperform competitors by doing the same things they do and simply hoping that your products will be recognized by millions is not enough to make your brand stand out in an overcrowded market.
Instead, try to truly understand your industry and your audience and start doing things differently. Don’t shy away from experimenting with new approaches, being transparent, and starting meaningful conversations.
To increase your chances of success, even more, know exactly what you stand for and act upon your core values with social, ethical, and moral responsibility in mind.
To put it simply – trust in your brand, let its uniqueness shine through, and let the world know what you stand for.
