Just like products, brands need to be sold—but selling your brand is about more than showcasing a list of features; it’s about building and expanding the message of who you are and what you’re known for. How do you do it? How do you sell your brand to customers and prospects in a way that makes them buy into your concept and remember it?
Whether you’re a local automotive lift repair company or a national retailer, here are some tips for making the most of your messaging and selling your brand well!
Know Who You Are
Before you can sell something, you have to know it. Do you understand what your brand is? Who are you and what do you stand for? What is your purpose, your mission? What do you offer? Take the time to define and understand your brand in order to know how to market it well.
Create a Key Message
Once you know who your brand is, figure out a way to communicate that persona to your potential clients. Create a simple and concise mission statement, maybe of a few sentences or so, like an elevator pitch. This message needs to be worked into all your branding materials, from business cards to social media profiles to sales plans.
Find the Right Audience
It’s the most basic rule of selling: offer something the client needs. In order to successfully sell your brand, you need to find the audience looking for what you offer. So say that you sell custom molded thermoplastics, for example—you have to find a way to get exposure to the potential customers who are looking for your products, whether it’s manufacturers who need soft drink fountain components or automakers who need fuse holders or RV components.
Back Up Claims with Facts
These days, everybody’s claiming to be the best at this or leader in that. So to set yourself apart from all the exaggerations and hype, offer proof. Share competitive facts about your services or products and why they matter—and have these corroborations at the ready, so it’s easy to share them with potential clients.
Use Multiple Channels
Branding is about more than a one-time conversation or an attractive brochure—it’s about a complete marketing plan involving a solid online presence (website, blog, social profiles, email marketing, etc.), quality advertising (whether print or TV or elsewhere), consistency and persistence. Are you utilizing all the possible opportunities to sell your brand? Here are a few you may not have thought of:
- Use Location-Based Services: Smartphones make it possible to check in via Facebook, Foursquare or SCVNGR, all of which promote your brand to that client’s network and build your social proof to new and potential customers. So if your company has a retail location that customers can visit, encourage them to check in online when they come by—maybe by offering a free product or some kind of discount after five checkins, for example.
- Speak at Events, Write Guest Articles: Contributing to events or places that will enhance your authority online and off is always good for your brand. What established venues could you provide information for? Where could you be a speaker in your community, and what sites might you write guests posts for? These opportunities will build your social proof, establish you as an expert and give more power to your brand.
Be Consistent
The most powerful brands are the ones who are consistent, regularly repeating their core messaging across all their marketing materials and efforts. But even beyond content, it’s also vital to be consistent with appearance, ensuring the same look and feel in all your messaging. Take a look at your logo, color scheme, font choices and style: are these consistent everywhere you’re speaking and sharing? If not, you could be making it harder on yourself to sell your brand.
Have you been putting these tips into practice in seeking to sell your brand? How could they make a difference in your efforts? What else have you found to be key in promoting your image to potential clients?