Small Business Marketing Guide - DIY (do-it-yourself) BRAND MARKETING STRATEGIES to HELP YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS

All companies and products have names.
But not all names are good. And few are great.

Well-chosen names benefit the customer.
They stand out, are easy to remember,
and differentiate from the competitors.

Bad names blend in, are forgettable,
and create ambiguity about the benefit
of your company or product.

How do you find a good name?
Here’s a process to get you started:

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Vanilla is the most popular type of ice cream in the world. But consumers of vanilla ice cream don’t really care about which brand of vanilla ice cream they are eating.

More importantly, fans of special flavors like Cherry Garcia, by Ben and Jerry’s, would never consider switching to another brand, or back to vanilla. The point is simple – niche targeting and specialized content invoke preference, emotion and commitment to your brand.

So, how do you create a Cherry Garcia brand?

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Your product is one among millions.
With so many products, why should a customer choose yours?
Positioning answers this question.

A product’s “position” is the place it occupies in the customer’s mind.
All products have a position—
even if it’s the position of “unfamiliar” or “irrelevant to me” or “not very good”.
Successful products are both relevant and highly ranked.
They stand out. They have a unique position.
The purpose of “positioning” is to create and articulate what makes your product unique.

A key step in positioning is writing a positioning statement.
Let’s start with a template based on the classic positioning structure
used by Procter and Gamble:

Or if you want to be really succinct, use this one by Marty Neumeier:

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There are few more useful books for understanding sales and marketing than Influence—Science and Practice (Allyn & Bacon, 2000) by Robert Cialdini. In this book, he outlines the six key principles of influencing people. As you build your brand, keep them in mind:

1. Reciprocation. When you receive something from someone, all but the most socially inept feel an obligation to give something back. This isn’t limited to gifts and goods; it also includes treatment. If someone treats you with kindness, you are likely to treat them back in the same way. Example: Charities giving gifts when asking for donations.
2. Scarcity. When people perceive something as popular and in short supply, they will seize the opportunity to possess it. This explains the potency of limited time and limited quantity offers when there’s little reason for limits of either. Example: the “limited” number of people could sign up for Google’s Gmail.
3. Authority. You can persuade people if they perceive you as having knowledge and credibility about a subject. This effect includes not only celebrity endorsements but the reliance of people in a social circle to believe the group’s “experts.” Example: I know this is ridiculous, but Dennis Haysbert is effective at selling Allstate Insurance because he’s The Man in “The Unit.”
4. Commitment. If you can get someone to commit to an order or request, she is likely to go through with the commitment. This is especially true if you sign a pledge document or publicly declare your intentions. Example: Signing a petition to support a cause.
5. Liking. The more people know you and like you, the more likely you can influence them. While people you dislike may bludgeon you into doing something, it’s certainly not “influence” in the way that we’re discussing it. Example: my daughter asking me for anything anytime anywhere.
6. Consensus. If everyone around you is buying a product, you’ll be more likely to buy it, too. Doesn’t food taste better at restaurants with long lines? In many instances, saving time and thinking is a benefit of following the wisdom of the crowd. Example: the lines of people waiting to get a new model iPhone.

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We’ve featured a lot of great advice on this site for developing your brand strategy. Here are some highlights to help you take advantage of the tips we’ve offered so far.

1. Choose a name with a good story behind it

John Battelle advises: “It’s often said that a brand is a ‘vessel waiting to be filled.’ In other words, you can call a new product or service anything, and after a while, if your product is successful, that brand will come to mean whatever experience it ends up delivering. While I generally agree with the thesis, I’ve found that having a great story is a very good way to jumpstart a new brand, and a great way to help sell it and keep defining it in the long term.”

You can read the full post here.

2. Clearly define what it is your company does

Guy Kawasaki says,  “… if you want to build a company that can take the heat, you need to define your business in not in terms of what you do  but what benefit you provide. Now ask yourself: What business is your company in?”

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