I think most of us can agree that a brand is an extremely valuable intangible asset that requires disciplined nurturing to attract new business and keep current customers feeling welcomed. Brand equity can increase and decrease as consumers collectively feel a certain way about the brand at any given time. Attempting to leverage your brand’s value into business categories outside your core strength invariably affects delivery of your core products and services. Brand extension can be very tempting but the foundation of brand value is authenticity. Authenticity is proven only by consistently matching customer experiences with brand promises.

Keep it simple. Use your positioning statement!

Many business owners and marketing directors struggle with how to create content for their inbound marketing efforts. They wonder what to say and how to say it in an article, sponsorship, ad or promotion. Before crafting any company message, the brand strategy should be consulted for direction. The brand’s positioning statement is the idea platform from which you can develop brand-congruent messages that reinforce your strategic identity in the market – being known for the reasons you should be known.

When considering what your message should be for any external communication, ask: What does our brand command? Your positioning statement will infuse the spirit of your brand identity into the ideas you wish to convey.

Does your business have a positioning statement? Forget mission statement! Your positioning statement sums up how and why your organization delivers value, and you should remind consumers of that value every chance you get. Keep in mind that B2B clients are consumers. Business consumers are just as emotionally driven and socially engaged as anyone else so branding and positioning are crucial for industrial, manufacturing and technology driven businesses.

How to Write Your Positioning Statement

Doug Stayman writing in eCornell Blog offers guidelines for writing a strong positioning statement.

“What makes a good positioning statement? Here are six keys to keep in mind:

1. It is simple, memorable, and tailored to the target market.
2. It provides an unmistakable and easily understood picture of your brand that differentiates it from your competitors.
3. It is credible, and your brand can deliver on its promise.
4. Your brand can be the sole occupier of this particular position in the market. You can “own” it.
5. It helps you evaluate whether or not marketing decisions are consistent with and supportive of your brand.
6. It leaves room for growth.”

Here’s the formula for writing your positioning statement, courtesy of Brandeo.

“There are four elements or components of a positioning statement:

Target Audience – the attitudinal and demographic description of the core prospect to whom the brand is intended to appeal; the group of customers that most closely represents the brand’s most fervent users.

Frame of Reference – the category in which the brand competes; the context that gives the brand relevance to the customer.

Benefit/Point of Difference – the most compelling and motivating benefit that the brand can own in the hearts and minds of its target audience relative to the competition.

Reason to Believe – the most convincing proof that the brand delivers what it promises.

Criteria for Evaluating a Positioning Statement

• Is it memorable, motivating and focused to the core prospect?
• Does it provide a clear, distinctive and meaningful picture of the brand that differentiates it from the competition?
• Can the brand own it?
• Is it credible and believable?
• Does it enable growth?
• Does it serve as a filter for brand decision making?

Template for a Positioning Statement:

For (target audience), (brand name) is the (frame of reference) that delivers (benefit/point of difference) because only (brand name) is/can (reason to believe).”

Here’s an example from Amazon.com:

“For World Wide Web users who enjoy books, Amazon.com is a retail bookseller that provides instant access to over 1.1 million books, because unlike traditional book retailers, Amazon.com provides a combination of extraordinary convenience, low prices, and comprehensive selection.”

Here’s ours:

“For Business Leaders and Strategic Marketing Directors, Chuck Sink Link is the marketing communications firm that creates ideal messages for your target audience, because we reveal the authentic value of your brand and communicate it with relevance and clarity.”

The strongest brands today are those with owners who listen to their customers and target audiences. Their brand identities are determined by aligning consumer desires and emotions with core company mission and values. The brand is shaped largely by how the market gains value from its use, congruent with what the brand’s organization stands for.

For a brand to be successful, it must convey a very specific value that’s measured in quantifiable benefits and emotional satisfaction. While these intangibles may be hard to measure at first, the buying behavior of your new customers will be easy to gauge.

The post What does the brand command? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

One key word or turn of a phrase in the subject line catches your eye as you go through the daily delete routine in your email. You “mark as unread” so you’ll go back to it. A similar thing happens as you glance at the notifications on your phone. Someone commented on one of your LinkedIn posts and it’s a person of influence. You immediately open the message. This is what relevancy is all about. If something relates to your current interests or issues, you first pay attention and then likely take action.

Content driven marketing is taken to extremes by some marketers and the Internet is cluttered with mind-boggling volumes of information. How much of that information has any value? More importantly, to whom might it offer value and why?

The quality of information you develop or share carries far more importance than the volume or frequency of material you blast out. One really interesting article might reach one key audience member who then shares it. His network could be full of new business prospects who can actually do business with you and refer clients. Exciting new ideas and demonstrable best practices spread fast without the need to invest lots of media dollars.

As you determine what content to offer your target audience, ask yourself first: If intheir shoes would I want to consider this or learn more about it? Better yet, run it by a couple of customers and get their feedback to help assure its relevancy and value. It’s important to run such mental tests or surveys before you produce and publish content.

The extra time is well worth it. When other people start talking about your ideas and how much they appreciate you as a resource, you become the go-to guy or gal. You’re the authentic authority on your product category within your market. Doing business with you becomes the natural choice and might even be considered fashionable in your commercial sphere.

The post Relevancy Attracts Viewers appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Guest author Stacie Andrews gets the credit for this brilliant question: “What can you give your audience that is relevant to them and still relevant to what you stand for?” 

That, my friends, is exactly what I focus my business practice on and it requires honest self evaluation from leadership. At an agency I previously worked for, principal Haden Edwards called it “matching promises with priorities.” That is, how your company – as guaranteed in your brand promise – helps meet the priorities (wants) of your target market.

It’s a remarkably simple strategy that too few businesses execute well. Steve Jobs seemed to understand his consumers’ priorities instinctively which is why he went against rigid conventional corporate thinking. He got fired from the company he founded, was pulled back in, allowed to keep innovating, and built arguably the most successful company in the world. 

Jobs knew that his customers wanted dazzling tech products that operated the way humans like to live and work – by intuition. He ardently stuck to proprietary platforms for Apple and his detractors despised those tactics if not the man himself. Jobs persevered in wowing customers and Apple products deliver on the company’s promise to meet the priorities of the computing and device-wielding public. Apple’s products perform as expected and give authenticity to their brand identity.

So how do you go about making your brand’s real value relevant to what your target customers really want from a business like yours? The answer is in your positioning. How do you position your brand for success?

Writing your positioning statement will bring you more long term success than just about any other strategic exercise you can do in business.

A positioning statement is your unique promise to customers that differentiates your business from the competition with honesty, relevance and value. It should be one or two sentences and crystal clear. You should articulate it in numerous ways that are natural in both writing and conversation, keeping it real for people.

How to write your positioning statement:

Dr. David Shore of Harvard University developed a positioning methodology many years ago that my previous employer, Tracey/Edwards, taught me.

1. Clearly and narrowly define your target audience.
2. Define your general business category (manufacturer, retailer, law firm, college, home builder, consultancy, engineering firm, etc.).
3. Determine their priorities with your own research. (Suggestion: spend some hours with clients who use your product/service and really understand how they get value from it – or not.)
4. Determine your statement of need fulfillment – what of value will you deliver?
5. Provide the reason to believe with relevant support.

I’ll use my own positioning statement, based on this model, as an example. It covers all of the above in one concise statement which my company strives to live up to every day.

(1) To Business Owners, Organization Leaders and Marketing Directors:

Chuck Sink Link is the (2) communication firm that (3, 4)) creates ideal messages for your target audience because (5) we reveal the authentic value of your brand and convey it with relevance and clarity.

Notice how all 5 listed elements are contained in one brief statement? All of my marketing messages stem from this positioning statement and they’re working. Every week, people I’ve never met introduce themselves and already know who I am and what I do. I have successfully built a strategic brand and now my leads are inbound and the referrals are warm.

If you still struggle with working the numbers cold calling or trying to blitz your prospects because things are slow, I would suggest you take time now to strategically position your brand for success. Highly profitable inbound business will come your way if you communicate the same message with consistency and deliver what you promise.

Your brand positioning is the nexus where your stated brand value meets the needs and desires of your audience. It’s the fulcrum point where your marketing messages gain the leverage of consistency for broader reach. When you consistently reinforce your company’s positioning, you become well known in the market – “for the reasons you want to be known!”

We’re redesigning our website now to better reflect the company’s evolved brand value. I made this decision in part to practice what I preach and more importantly to fulfill my own brand promise to my own business.

It’s vitally important to work ON your business as you must also work IN it. This carpenter’s online house will soon be rebuilt, true to it’s brand positioning. So please stay tuned in the coming weeks for the unveiling of our new site!

The post Brand positioning – Your success sweet spot appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Sometimes this blog brings some hands-on marketing technique information to readers such as better SEO practices, how to use Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. But it focuses mostly on building skills that help business owners, marketing directors and salespeople do their jobs better. Let’s look at just a few key skills that will help you in your business, whatever category you’re in; professional services, manufacturing, construction, business services, retail, legal, real estate… you name it.

3 skills every business person needs to succeed:

1.  Networking & Building Relationships:  If you can’t listen well and carry on a mutually pleasing conversation with someone you may as well go back to your cubicle and fight carpal tunnel syndrome. That may be fine if you program or crunch numbers better than anyone else but chances are you’ll always work for someone else or need someone else to help you grow your business. There is no substitute for people doing business face to face. Clients and customers gravitate to people they enjoy being around and prefer to do business with people they like.

2.  Consistency:  Stay focused on what you do best. The jack of all trades is master of none and today’s customers want the best that’s out there. If you try to be all things to all people, you will be known for nothing. None of us can be best-in-class in more than one or two specialties. Resist the temptation to position your brand as an expert generalist. There’s really no such thing and customers know it. Business owners often fear they will miss out on opportunities unless they cast the broadest net. It may work in politics but not business. When you carefully develop your business strategy and clearly communicate your brand positioning by being known well for one thing, customers from all over the place will be attracted to that message because they want that one thing from the best in the business.

3.  Customize experiences:  Do your homework! “When you walk in empty headed, you’ll walk out empty handed.” There’s another brilliant quip from Jeffrey Gitomer. It means preparing for every unique customer interaction. If you have an appointment with a prospect or new customer, go in knowing about them and what makes them tick. How can your product or service experienced be customized to fit them like a comfortable glove? This takes research. It takes extra time and work on your part. Do the extra work and you’ll stand up head and shoulders above your competition. Your genuine confident smile will set your clients at ease and let them know they made the right choice when they called you.

We subtitled this “3 skills…” but here’s your bonus: Believe and have faith in the power that is greater than you – from whence all success is derived. Whatever your understanding of this power, know this. It exists and it isn’t you. I choose to call Him God. All of your skills and talents are given life to serve others and you are the instrument through which they are carried out in service. The most precious habit you can nurture is prayer and meditation to start your day – every day.

The post Soft Skills that Deliver Hard Assets appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Executives and business owners will often call in a marketing company for ideas to help rejuvenate sluggish or declining sales. “We just need help attracting some fresh new leads for the sales team and we can handle it once we get them talking with us.” It’s a commonly expressed sentiment. My experience has been that once such a meeting takes place, and the marketing consultant knows how to probe, the discussion can turn into something much more profound.

Marketing isn’t a department or a function. Marketing encompasses products and services, brand(s), prices, distribution, promotion and sales. It’s most of your business activity and therefore requires the highest level of business strategy to succeed.

Small business owners are notorious for mistaking marketing with advertising and promotion and they let office managers or executive assistants “handle the marketing.” Even in large firms, the CMO – Chief Marketing Officer (if they have one) is almost always subordinate to the CFO and COO. They often report directly to the COO instead of the CEO. This makes me worry they might CCO – cease creating opportunities by having a buffer zone between the marketing officer and the Chief Executive & board.

The principles of marketing will always be pretty much the same because they are rooted in human nature and the laws of economics. The tactical marketing landscape, however, is nothing like it was ten years ago. The powerful implication here is that marketing strategy must adapt to new technologies and audience preferences. Product design must be superb. Service delivery must be revolutionary or you cannot sell on service!

New business prospect: “My current supplier does all that and more!”

Sidebar: Please stop basing your differentiation on service. Argue all you want but your service can and will be duplicated in short order. Great service must be a given or you’ll lose customers. Customers expect you to cater to them as a concierge and when you don’t, they will broadcast their experience rather than complain to you and a few of their friends.

A good marketing plan must be fully integrated in the overall business plan. A solid marketing strategy begins with a core foundation which includes:

• Market Research
• Target Audience Definition
• Competitor Analysis
• Branding (more important than many think!)
• Tactical Planing
• Implementation

Sounds like a lot of work and it is! I will readily admit there are successful companies that may not consciously plan out and execute all of the above but they actually accomplish these things by virtue of their innate business savvy. It helps when you have great people, driven every day to be the very best in the market! That overrides a lot of potential deficiencies in systems and processes.

There’s a whole lot more to modernizing and improving your marketing plan than trying to capitalize on social media. Feel free to chime in your thoughts with a comment. I’d also be happy to answer questions. You can even talk directly to the CEO. 🙂

The post Marketing is (Almost) Everything! appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

By Chuck Sink

The post Your Friend the Competitor appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

I’m involved in a LinkedIn group discussion about where to draw the lines between marketing functions like advertising, branding, promotion, etc. A marketer named Jon Sherrington from Toronto offered this wonderful metaphor:

“Within the body that we call Marketing: strategy is the brain, advertising is the voice, media is the lungs, sales is the heart and branding is the soul. You don’t dissect the body to make it more functional. You can analyze and philosophize to the nth degree but it doesn’t change the nature of what it is.” (I detect a little St. Paul in there.)

I really like how Jon compares vital organs to business functions. I had an aha! moment when identifying a brand with a soul. The soul is not of the body. It supersedes the mortal body and lives independently. The brand is not of the signs, slogans, salespeople, advertising, website, events, buildings, trucks, social media presence… It could live on without all that if suddenly those things went away. Could Oldsmobile be resurrected? (Not that it should be unless some wave of consumer nostalgia demanded it.)

I’ve read in a couple of places that the value of the CocaCola brand, stripped of alltangible corporate assets, just the brand – the image and the idea alone of CocaCola is estimated to be worth over $70 billion. That’s essentially pure brand equity. It’s the value of Coke’s brand positioning in our minds.

That’s how powerful great strategic branding is for a business. Coke pours tremendous resources toward continually strengthening its brand though committed advertising campaigns. Not all of their campaigns are winners, nor are all of their business decisions good ones (Remember the New Coke fiasco?). But we can see how Coke’s brand equity can absorb even big mistakes and still maintain huge market value sans any physical assets.

So how is your brand doing? Is the soul of your business in a state of grace?

The post Brand for Eternity appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

A FREE NETWORKING EVENT to celebrate our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

Thursday, May 30, 2013 – 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM

Eastpoint Executive Center – 264 South River Road Bedford, NH 03110

Create Content  to Drive New Business!

Presented by Chuck Sink Link and Eastpoint Executive Center

Please RSVP  by leaving a comment right here on this post.

You may also RSVP by contacting Chuck:  chuck@chucksink.com  |  (603) 345-7223

Come learn something valuable and make connections.  See you May 30th!

Create content that is engaging!

The post Learn and Network at the Chuck Sink Link Anniversary Event appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

By Chuck Sink

In today’s marketing world you need to be a good Content Curator (Curator, huh?)  Curating the content is also known as getting the content so if I use the word “get” instead of “curate,” forgive me. The last real curators I knew worked exclusively for museums.

Give Me an Easy Tool!

A client of mine recently asked her SEO vendor what they use to generate fresh content for the dynamic news feed on their website. What “Curator Plugin” did they use? The answer came back starting this way: “There’s no easy answer on this one…” The vendor went on to explain how they manually get (curate) articles for their news feed. “We all do a lot of reading and we share the best of what we find…” continued the answer.  That answer is one reason I respect this particular vendor so much. They are diligent specialists and very good at what they do.

The post Curate Content that Drives New Business appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

person in your network known for his or her skills at solving your problem.

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