Internet Marketing Tools

Traditional Branding

There was a time when business branding was simple.  Based on the Wild West tradition of cattle branding, the business started with a brand logo.  Colors were picked; a business slogan was created.

The logo, the colors, and the slogan were consistently used with all marketing efforts.  It was put on a business card, stationary, a website, etc.  Example, Fed Ex. When it positively has to be there over night.

I call this third person branding.  It’s see a business brand something separate from business owner.  Businesses used branding to visually stand out from the competition.  Through advertising, a brand gets a reputation, making it easier for people to do brand shopping.  This works wonderfully for mass marketing.

Social Media Branding

Social media sites forced a shift in business branding.   At the heart of social media is interactive social engagement.  People are not looking for the business persona or logo.  They wanted to know the person behind the business.  Before they purchase, they want to know, like and trust the owner.

Business branding shifted to the first person.  Creating a first person brand means identifying the owner’s unique skills and talents.  It means tapping into the business owner’s passion and expressing the “juices” that drives the business.   By expressing these “juices” in the brand, others are attracted to it.  Business magic occurs.

Terms like personal branding, authentic, “value added” business branding begin to define the business branding process.

While both of these business branding models have worthwhile elements, both can fail to address the real issue of business branding—the customer!

Customer Branding

The number one rule in marketing is—the business isn’t about you, it’s about the customer.

Business branding is about the customer’s problems, their wants and relating to a particular pain they are experiencing in their life.  It’s about the ability a business has with products or services to transform the customer from a position of pain to a place where they want to be.  How does this work?

A customer finds themselves in a place they do not like.  They want to be in another place. They look for ways to get to them there.  For example, the golfer who shoots high golf scores because they slice the ball.  They don’t want to be a golfer with high score (their pain position).  They look for solutions that will give them lower golf scores (the place they want to be).   They explore new golf clubs and lessons that could transform them from a poor golfer to a good golfer.

Customer Branding as a Process

Customer branding is a process.  This branding process is working with the customer’s transformation process.  You put a label on it, give it a color, give it images and find words that capture this transformation.  The process taps into the customer’s emotions involved their transformation.  You apply this brand consistently to all your marketing efforts.

When you do customer branding here is what you find:

• 90% of your business problems would go away when you know your customers better.  They will teach you solutions to most of your business problems.
• The business owner’s passion comes from their contribution to the customer’s transformation.
• Value is not about what you see in your product.  Value is what the customer sees that moves them to action.
• When people find that you are relating to them, they love your brand and you have brand recognition because you understand them.
• Authenticity comes from delivering the promises you make to the customer.

Conclusion

Your Facebook brand is  more likely to produce the results you want if it starts with a focus on your customer.

To be continued, your comments are welcomed…

Al Hanzal