Three ways in which brands create value include saving someone time, increasing the pricing levels for buyers to choose from, and by raising awareness of a particular value or benefit that target customers are searching for. Knowing the answers to what customers are searching for before you start the branding process is an absolute requirement to successful branding – and one that is often overlooked.
Going beyond these three foundational branding principles we have examined additional sources of value building strategies. Some of these can be quantified in financial terms. Others cannot, either because they are part of the softer intangible assets that are inherently difficult to measure or because the value they create may have only an indirect impact on an ultimate sale.
But this does not reduce their importance or diminish their impact. Consider for instance a brand that is sold to a customer who experiences poor customer service. What happens? Potentially, that brand is returned. So although customer service does not show up on the P/L or Balance Sheet it plays a critical role in building a successful organization.
In all, we have identified five additional sources of positioning that most impact a brand’s value and drive it to top of mind:
- Improved profiling. Building keywords into all of your brand messaging allows customers to find you more easily and quickly, particularly if your organization has identified exactly what your customers are and are not interested in purchasing.
- Streamlining the buying process. Don’t spend too much of your target customer’s time having them fill out your forms for subsequent marketing, rather make it easy for them to find what they need and to buy it.
- Become known for one thing. Successful positioning helps all types of buyers to sense an affinity with their brand by becoming known for one speciality and distinction.
- Improved price matching. Transparency of pricing is something that many brand owners are uncomfortable with but research shows that the easier it is for a buyer to determine a brand’s pricing the quicker they will be wiling to place a value on that brand leading to a sale.
- Solve customers problems. One quick reorientation is to provide customers with specific solution to their particular problems. A simple table that is indexed on your website that allows a potential customer to identify the problem they are having and find the solution to it will greatly improve the odds that the customer will purchase quickly.
This list is far from exhaustive but presents some solid sources of value that can help you plan and build real brand value that your existing and prospective customers will appreciate.