No matter your industry, your brand is central to how you communicate your value to your target market—it’s your first, second, and lasting impression of who you are and why you matter.
Connecting on a deeper level with your target market and standing out from the crowd are core to breaking through a noisy, fast-paced industry. It’s not enough to offer a great product; you need to ensure that it aligns with the pressing needs of your audience, communicates your brand’s value effectively, and sets you apart from your competitors.
Before embarking on a brand renovation journey, it’s important to understand exactly who you’re targeting, what matters most to them, and how that can connect to the value you deliver.
Here are three core questions you should be asking yourself about your brand:
1. Does your product offering connect with the most pressing needs of your market?
It’s critical to deeply understand your target market decision makers so you can connect with them, relate to them, and move them through your sales pipeline.
It’s important to remember that you aren’t just trying to connect with ‘targets’—you are striving to connect with actual human beings who have unique motivators, perspectives, and priorities. It’s so important to get underneath their key drivers and uncover how your brand can speak to their needs and actually exceed their expectations. Committing to continually understanding the needs, decision drivers, and aspirations of those you want to serve – is foundational step 1 in building a brand that can connect and spark growth.
2. Does your brand communicate the important, relevant value that you can deliver to your customers?
Many brands fall into the trap of ‘talking about the features’ or ‘talking about the functions’ of product and service offerings – without ever climbing the ladder to explain the value that these offerings deliver to your customers and prospects. To coin an old joke “enough about me, let’s talk about me.” Don’t be that brand…you have to make it about your audience or it will just become noise.
It’s important to remember that your brand is a living, breathing being—you can’t just set it and forget it. What’s relevant to customers last year is different than this year and far different than next year. Needs evolve, technology advances, competitors improve – so if you’re not committed to continually understanding your customers and prospects over time, you are at real risk of relevance obsolescence (that’s a mouthful, but it’s not wrong).
3. Does your brand effectively differentiate you from market competitors?
If your brand doesn’t clearly communicate who you are, why you matter, and the difference you make in your space, you are going to struggle to drive impact and sustain growth. This means going beyond what your audience wants or expects, and instead building on those expectations to exceed them and stand out in a crowded space. This requires an in-depth understanding of your market, including who your competitors are, how they are communicating, and where you can differentiate to stand out.
Ensure ongoing relevance and resonance by continuously evolving your brand. Avoid going stagnant by staying up to date with the latest trends and changes in your industry. Pay attention to what your competitors are doing and whether it is working. Review how you communicate your value to your market and make it a core goal of your business to continuously evolve.
Continuous customer curiosity is key
If you’re not committed to ongoing customer curiosity – you run the risk of falling beyond competitively. Your brand is a relationship with the people you serve – so if you don’t understand how their needs and expectations are changing over time you’re in dangerous territory. Remember your brand is a living thing – and it requires the ongoing ‘nourishment’’ of customer and market insight to ensure ongoing resonance with those you serve, and competitiveness with those who want to take your market share.
Struggling to answer these questions? The Connell Group offers 23 years of unique experience combining both insights and strategy expertise, to help you reach your ultimate destination and ensure ongoing brand relevance with strategic and actionable brand market research. Contact us today to see how we can help get you where you need to go – and help you avoid relevance obsolescence.
