A Brand Strategy defines your brand and who you serve. It’s more than marketing messaging. A Brand Strategy should guide your entire organization in what you do, who you do it for, and how you show up every day.
There are several deliverables that CMO-OnLoan includes in our Brand Strategy building block, but the two that we will focus on to address this pitfall are Ideal Target and Promise & Secret Sauce.
- Ideal Target – People who have similar needs and are likely to be interested in buying from you; who you really want to serve .
- Promise & Secret Sauce – What will make your ideal target’s life better and the ways you are different; what you “promise” to do every day.
Ideal Target – Who do you love to serve the most? Think of customers who are in your “sweet spot.”
- Why are they in your “sweet spot”? Are they profitable? Easy to work with?
- What market or markets are they in?
- What are the demographics of the company?
- What are the role(s) and title(s) of the people who you sell to?
- What do they care about?
- What do they need from you?
Defining your Ideal Target doesn’t mean that you have to “fire” any current customers. You can also take advantage of opportunities with other customer types. However, it does mean that your entire organization will focus on finding more of the clients that you can serve the best.
We often find that leaders have a clear definition of their Ideal Target but the information isn’t known throughout the organization. We also often hear salespeople talk about Ideal Clients and current clients interchangeably. This could be an issue if you aren’t focusing on finding more of your Ideal Clients.
Start by documenting what you know and believe. The Ideal Client document should be a working document so you can continue to add information and insights. Sometimes companies like to create “personas” with a lot of personal information and details. Personas are a good second step.
Promise & Secret Sauce
The Promise & Secret Sauce succinctly define and communicate how you help your Ideal Target in a compelling way.
The “Promise”
One sentence describing what your organization does to truly help your Ideal Target. This needs to be a genuine promise and something that your Ideal Target cares about (see above notes!).
Everyone in your organization should know your Promise and each person’s role in delivering it. If you have a purpose and/or a vision and mission, delivering the Promise every day will help you make progress toward them.
The Promise statement is often internally-facing but it can also be communicated externally. Sometimes, the unique selling proposition (external message) is the same as the Promise. Other times, you may need to adapt the Promise statement to the context of the communication.
The Secret Sauce
Made up of three sentences that support your Promise. The three sentences together make your brand very difficult for competition to copy. For many businesses, the three Secret Sauce statements are a unique combination of products, people, and processes. Please avoid the urge to add every feature you offer to your Secret Sauce. If you have more than three themes, consider consolidating and/or identifying three overarching categories that can encompass the other features.
As we noted already, the Promise and Secret Sauce aren’t just words. You will convey your Promise and Secret Sauce better when you demonstrate them versus trying to find the best words to explain them.
In summary, not defining and communicating your brand strategy, specifically your Ideal Target, Promise, and Secret Sauce, is a marketing pitfall. Those things can be a driving force that inspires and motivates your organization to focus every day.