If you own a business, you know how hard it can often be to set yourself apart from your competitors. You own an amazing frozen yoghurt stand in Melbourne CBD … and so do thirty other people. You run a bakery that churns out delicious steak and mushroom pies in Brisbane’s eastern suburbs – guess what, you’re not the only one. Sure, you’ll have your loyal customers but at the same time, you also have your customers that are also happy to buy your goods and services in five other different places.
Bottom line: if you don’t want your customers to go elsewhere, you need to offer something unique.
Understandably, it may not be feasible for you to offer something that your competitors don’t have. However, the secret is to LOOK unique. Remember, it’s often all about perceptions. A good perception of your brand creates value and that is often done by offering something no one else has.
Here are three ways in which you can create uniqueness for your brand and subsequently add value:
It’s well and good to call your pizza shop Marco’s Pizza Place but it’s a good idea to go a little deeper. Your brand is a combination of your story, goods or services offered and personal style. Give Marco a personality and a style. Is he down-to-earth and friendly? Is he sophisticated and suave? Is he charming and quirky? Once you’ve determined your style and personality, align them with your offerings.
If you’re struggling to come up with a reason as to why your brand is unique, it’s time to write down all the products or services you offer. When you’re done, tick off the ones that your competitors also offer. By the time you’re done, there’s bound to be at least a couple of items that you haven’t ticked off – these are the ones that your competitors have not focused on and it could be the one item that you can focus on as a unique selling point. Perhaps it’s a special brand of chocolate sprinkles you use on your donuts, or maybe it’s the organic matcha from Japan you use for your lattes.
Customers love freebies and extras; best of all, they can add a lot of value and uniqueness to your brand, even if they don’t cost you much. These may include free progress reports (for those in service-related businesses) or an extra cupcake thrown into the box for loyal customers. It’s a very small price to pay for the reward of greater brand value and a potential long-term relationship with the customer.
Inspired but don’t know where to start? We can help you! As experts in branding, marketing and strategic planning, we’ve helped businesses add value to their brand by creating uniqueness. Want to know more? Drop us a line now!