If you want to own your niche or market sector, you have to get people to equate that sector to you, your company, and/or your product. If you have branded properly, whenever the market thinks of obtaining something from that sector they should think of you first. They should want to see what you have to say or what you have available before all others. Branding requires that all of your marketing time, money, and energy to be spent on reaching that level of trust and notoriety. One way to get there is by understanding how to use social media to market effectively. It takes time and effort, but it’s a free way to help people get to know who you are, what you have to offer, and to build trust and confidence in you. There is no bigger problem in marketing and brand building than obscurity.
Whenever you cannot seem to master your niche or market sector the problem is not money, financing, price, value or packaging. The problem is nobody knows you. The so-called experts will tell you that the problem is there’s not enough money, the banks aren’t loaning, the economy is falling, or people are not spending but none of those are the problem. When people have a problem that they need someone to help them solve they don’t worry about the economy or whether or not they have money. If they know you and can trust that you will deliver, they will buy whatever you have to offer. So, use social media to market in every way possible in order to build notoriety and kill obscurity.
The final thing you must do in order to build a solid brand is to subdue or control a portion or share the market. The most effective way to control your market today is through marketing. However, the ultimate goal is not just to keep customers coming to you but rather to dominate the market. The most effective way to dominate the market is through branding. Branding is more powerful than marketing or advertising because the psychological process of branding creates a tatoo on the brain. The result of branding or a brain tatoo is whenever people think of buying the type of product you sell they think of you first. There are all kinds of companies that sell facial tissue but the company people think of first is Kleenx. When people want to borrow facial tissue from someone they don’t ask “do you have any facial tissue?” They ask “do you have a Kleenx?” Effective branding gives you the ability to have dominion over the market once the name of your product becomes part of the language or venacular of the culture.
The 10 C’s of Branding
The benefits of a strong brand are tremendous. Strong brands can charge premium prices. And strong brands thrive during economic downturns. Strong brands can attract valuable employees, business partners, and customers. And strong brands can extend into new business areas with ease and at little or no expense.
McDonald’s for example is one of the strongest brands in the fast food industry. When McDonald's wants to expand into a new country most of the cost of localization is borne by its suppliers on handshake agreements. McDonald's agreement with its suppliers is built on trust not contracts. That’s because they built relationships that run deep and have maintained them for decades. This enables their major suppliers such as McCain Foods to make investments in the hundreds of millions once it knows McDonald's is entering that market. McDonald's supply chain is essentially 100% outsourced. This makes them one of the world’s biggest profit making machines. Their success at branding is the reason why their competitors have a hard time competing. If you want your company to be as formitable as McDonald’s you must adhere the 10 C’s of branding:
1. Competent
All brands begin with competence. Competence gets you into the game. But you aren't going to get too far if your product or service cannot fulfill its promise. You can not build a brand on ineptitude.
2. Credible
Your products and services must provide value and you must be believable in delivering that value. You need to be true to your core values and deliver on them in everything you do.
3. Clear
Strong brands are clear about what they are and what they are not. They understand their unique value that sets them apart from their competitors. Clarity differentiates them from others and allows them to attract and build loyalty among a desirable set of consumers.
4. Compelling
A strong brand is appropriate for and interesting to its target audience. A strong brand is relevant. It knows who to focus on and gets that audience to become passionate about what it has to offer.
5. Consistent
Strong brands are always what they say they are and always do what they say they will do.
6. Constant
Strong brands are always visible to keep their products top of mind with their customers and prospects.
8. Connected
A strong brand is a part of various appropriate communities, has a network of partners, colleagues, and customers. Strong brands develop affiliations and partnerships that reinforce their brand, connect them to appropriate causes, and create loyal brand ambassadors who become their extended sales force.
9. Committed
Strong brands are built over time and have a commitment to long term success.
10. Current
Strong brands are based in the present with room to evolve in the future. Strong brands are authentic but also have an aspiration element that inspires others to want to be a part of its future.
