A business is worthless without clients. You need people willing to spend their money on your goods and services if you want to build a thriving business. But how do you do that?
One of the easiest ways to get noticed is to stand out. This article covers different tricks and tips you can use to make your business stand out from the crowd in a competitive market.
Are you ready to turn your boring business into an interesting brand? Read on.
What Is Branding
Let’s first explain the obvious. Branding isn’t marketing. While the two are connected, they aren’t the same. We’ll focus on brands and branding in this article.
Your brand is people’s image (perception) of your product or business. To put it simply, your brand is what people think about your business.
Branding is the process of giving meaning to a product or business. When we’re doing branding, we’re trying to influence how people think about our product or business. Check out our video below to learn how to develop a strong brand:
Why Branding Matters for Your Business
Let’s say you’re a new player on the market, and you somehow manage to convince people you offer the best quality for the lowest price. Do you think you would be able to compete with existing brands on the market? You certainly could!
But convincing people you’re the best and the cheapest is hard. It’s almost impossible. That’s why we use different ways to shape the minds of our customers. We call this process brand positioning.
With brand positioning, you’re trying to find what makes you stand out from your competitors. You become more memorable and noticeable when you stand out. This enables you to charge more for the products or services you offer.
Actionable Tips to Make Your Brand Stand Out
If you stand out, you gain access to a bigger audience. People are more likely to remember you and recommend you to other people if you’re different.
We will share 15 different tips you can use to make your brand stand out from the competition. Most of them are relatively simple to implement.
Here’s how you can make your brand get noticed.
Know Your Audience
It all starts with your audience. If you know what people want, you can give them exactly that. That’s why it’s vitally important you listen to what your audience has to say.
Listen to social media conversations. Talk to your clients. Ask your friends for advice. You have different options to get feedback. Make sure your brand promises what people want.
Understand Your Competitors
It’s impossible to stand out from the crowd if you don’t know how the crowd looks. Make sure you take notice of your competitors. Replicate the things they do well and do differently on what they could improve.
For example, are your competitors using similar brand colors? Why not pick a bold color for your brand to make yourself more visible?
Be Consistent
We don’t want to confuse our customers. The more consistent we are, the more memorable we become. It’s easier to remember a simple message that we hear 20 times than it is to remember 20 different messages we hear 20 times.
Make sure you’re consistent with your colors, designs, and messages if you want to be memorable.
Be Unique
No one will remember you if you do the same things as your competitors. You have to do things differently if you want to stand out.
Do you think Apple would have ever become what they are if they weren’t bold enough to try unique things? Unique things define brands. Make sure you try new things to make your brand stand out.
Pick the Right Messaging Channel
The online world gives us a lot of options to reach our customers. In fact, it almost gives us too many options. It’s usually best to concentrate on one or two channels and go all-in on them.
While your competitors might be using many different social media platforms, you’ll be better at connecting with your audience if you do your best to become the best on one social platform.
Invest In Customer Relationships
People remember brands that do them good. If you create amazing customer experiences, people are more likely to recommend you to other people.
You will stand out if you manage to become the brand with the best customer experience in your market. All you have to do is invest time for your customers.
Show The People
People sometimes have a hard time connecting with abstract things like brands. It’s easier to connect with other people. Your audience will appreciate it if you show the people behind your brand.
Show the people that make your business go forward if you want others to connect with your brand.
Be Bold
A lot of businesses love the idea of standing out, but they don’t have to guts to actually do something that makes them stand out. It’s hard to go against the tide. That’s why you have to be bold.
Accept that standing out isn’t always comfortable. You will have to face doubters and haters. But at the end of the day, standing out always pays in the long run.
Design Matters
Your looks matter as much as your messages. Make sure you invest in professional design if you want to stand out.
Take note of your competitors. Go with colors that stand out. You can use fonts that are different. Make sure your designs get easily noticed in the crowded market.
Make Strong First Impressions
Branding starts with the first interaction potential customers have with your brand. First impressions set the tone for the relationships you build with them.
Make sure you use inviting messages that address the biggest pain points of your customers. This is the easiest way to get noticed. Having a strong brand name also helps make a great first impression.
Dial-Up Your Sales Pitch
You don’t get many chances to make your sales pitch. Make sure that what you say gets remembered.
We recommend you avoid the cliche promises and offers your competitors use. Instead, think of unique ways you could promote your brand. Is there anything people want that your competitors aren’t providing?
Focus On Quality
Do you know how German cars have the reputation of never breaking? They managed to build strong brands based on quality. And because of that, they can charge more for their cars.
You can do the same for your brand. Make sure you set strong quality control processes to ensure you always provide the best quality on the market.
Personalize Everything
Mass marketing and billboard advertising feel like shouting. People don’t like that. What we connect best with is personalization.
Make sure you’re building personal relationships with your customers. You have the advantage of having fewer clients than the big players in your market. Make sure you personalize the messages you use and talk to as many people one-on-one as you can to stand out.
Do More than Others
Many brands stop talking to their customers once they make a purchase. Devote the time to do more and keep communicating with your customers even after they’ve made their purchase.
They will appreciate the effort and recommend you to other people. Doing more for customers is a simple way of building a reputation of a brand that cares.
Try Unexpected Things
Don’t be afraid to do unexpected things if you want to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Big brands are often hesitant to try unexpected things because they are afraid they might alienate their existing customers.
You have the advantage of being new. You have a blank page in front of you. Make sure you try things others are afraid to do.
Examples of Real Brands that Stand Out In Their Market
The theory we shared will help you stand out in the market. Let’s now look at some real examples of brands that managed to jump out of the average. Here are 5 brands that are different and very memorable.
Apple
This is probably the first example average consumers think of when discussing brands that stand out. Apple is the brand that made technology sexy. They use elegant designs, memorable colors, and easy-to-use technology.
Their branding enables them to charge more for the products than their competitors. The brand never stopped being different, even as it became the market leader.
Ikea
The first thing that made Ikea stand out was the fact they didn’t sell you complete furniture. You had to assemble it yourself.
The second thing that makes Ikea stand out is its rich Swedish heritage. It starts with their brand colors that mimic the Swedish flag. They also use traditional Swedish dishes you can try on your way out of the store. Get your furniture and try some Swedish meatballs. Talk about standing out.
Starbucks
They say coffee is the second most popular drink in the world, behind water. While most of the world drinks black coffee and milk, Starbucks offers much more. Their comfy pumpkin lattes and other crazy recipes quickly became peoples’ favorites.
Another great example of how Starbucks is different is its logo. People still wonder what it means. The curiosity is what makes its identity so memorable.
Patagonia
Did you know that Patagonia donated 100% of its tax savings to the environment? Want to hear another crazy fact? They encouraged their customers not to buy Patagonia’s jackets because the brand was concerned about over-consumption.
They even banned Wall Street bankers from buying fleeces with Patagonia logos. Patagonia really is a brand that stands behind its values.
This is what makes the brand different. People know what they stand for, and they support the brand for it.
Lululemon
This is a great example of a brand that first built a strong community that turned into brand advocates. Lululemon is taking yoga wear from yoga classes into our everyday lives. And people seem to like that.
The brand has a huge following on social media channels. They are breaking the barrier by taking yoga wear into coworking spaces and offices. The brand was willing to do things differently, and it paid for them.
Conclusion
There you have it. You know what you have to do to make your brand stand out from the crowd. We shared 15 different tips you can try on your brand. Do you have to use all 15?
Of course not. We recommend you try one and see how it goes. The important thing is that you find what makes you different and embrace it.
Be bold and show the world that you’re different. Your customers will appreciate the fact you’re standing for what you believe in.