Are you a small business owner feeling like your wasting money on marketing? Aducate Digital’s success is understanding the difference between marketing and branding. Companies that find themselves unable to grow are making two mistakes.
- They are failing to identify how their service solves the customer’s pain point.
- They over-complicate the message.
If customers can’t clearly and quickly hear your offer, they will tune out. Noisy marketing means you’re wasting money. To that end, branding is more important than marketing.
In basic terms, marketing is the tactical approach used to generate a response. Companies communicate with a target audience through social media, newsletters, and blog posts. Branding takes this tactical approach and provides the strategy.
Marketing is how your business is seen in a digital landscape. Branding is how you are understood. It’s important to clearly define your why with a strong brand strategy. This will build loyalty with your target audience through communication channels.
To define your brand, you need to understand your target audience.
Create your brand experience
Our brain wants clarity and will tune out to avoid confusion. If you want your customers to listen, you need a clear message. This will require you to deeply understand your target audience.
Marketing has changed and you’ll need to flip your thinking to adapt. Your customer is the hero of the story, not your brand.
Successful businesses how found a way to bond their customer as the hero in the story. Stories are an effective marketing tool, but they need to be relevant. Your brand story needs to focus on how your offer will help your customer survive and thrive.
Your Hero Needs a Guide
Think about your favorite stories. The hero is looking to solve a problem that has interrupted their peaceful life. Often ill-equipped and full of self-doubt, the hero searches for a guide to resort the peace. That’s where you come in.
As the guide in the story, you provide a clear path to their success. The customer will see you as a helpful resource with authority once you position your brand as the guide.
Move away from the pompous taglines and craft a message of humility. Connect with your audience with empathy and competence.
We are all looking out for our own self interests. That includes your target audience. Your customer is not looking for another hero. They’re asking themselves:
- Can this brand really get me what I want?
- Can I trust this company?
Clearly answer those questions and you’ll stop wasting money on marketing.
Reference
Content for this blog post was written with reference to Build Your Story Brand. Connect with Aducate Digital to craft your story brand.
