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.

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.

Engaging your audience is easy when you know what motivates them. You can grab their attention, hold it and then persuade them to take action with more ease if you use one or more of The Six E’s of Audience Action.

Way back during the dawn of social media marketing development (like around 2010) I worked for a marketing agency that talked about the “3 E’s of social media engagement.” They were Ego, Entertainment and Education. I knew there was more to it than those 3 things so I’ve been striving to come up with a short yet comprehensive list of motivators that would cover all or most of what moves us humans to take action, and maybe even buy things.

Striving for simplicity, so I can understand my own concepts, I wanted a simple guide or formula that could make business communications resonate with target audiences. I wanted a set of guiding principles which work across a broad spectrum of constituencies and media. Serendipitously, the 6 best keywords I considered happened to start with E. Therein is the simplicity of my new guide to audience engagement.

When you examine each of the motivating factors that move people to action, you’ll see that each one fulfills a strong human desire or need. Beyond basic survival (food, clothing, shelter) these motivators are all part of our instinctual nature. In a manner of speaking, we were born to respond to them, and so they are very effective when used for strategic communications. Let’s take a look at the 6 E’s:

Ego

Empathy

Education

Enrichment

Enthusiasm

Entertainment

These are not in any particular order other than making a word pyramid, but Ego being at the top is actually quite helpful. We all have an ego! To discount it’s power over the individual would be remiss. Everyone loves to be recognized and we love hearing our own name called out in a positive way.

So, let’s look briefly at all 6E’s of Audience Action:

1. Ego – You make it happen. Thank you!
2. Empathy – I totally identify with you and know exactly how you feel.
3. Education – Understanding this material is the key to your success.
4. Enrichment – This will bring you security, comfort, fun and enjoyment.
5. Enthusiasm – You are delighted by my energy and excitement.
6. Entertainment – You will enjoy passing the time this way for hours.

• Egos aren’t stroked by manipulation.
• Empathy can’t be faked. You have it or you don’t.
• Education should edify or it’s meaningless.
• Enrichment can’t be given if you don’t have value to offer.
• Enthusiasm can’t be put on or faked because it’s an internal gift.
• Entertainment is the result of real talent, creativity and skill.

The post Motivate Your Audience with E’s appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

“You cannot be serious!” Imagine if John McEnroe had a meltdown about something he couldn’t believe was so… good!

Every once in a while there’s a new product or service so damn good it’s hard to believeit’s available without an inordinate cost. For example, I’m amazed by the value of email marketing on Constant Contact, Mailchimp and other email services. Just think of the service Google provides free – with very little if any advertising annoyance to you, the consumer.

Let me challenge you (I’m challenging myself starting right now!) to earn your next customer or client by being too good a value to pass up.

This is as transparent as it gets right here:

I screen every ad in this newsletter. I was just given a huge lesson when I clicked on my new ad this morning. It gave me the idea for this article: Be so good that even skeptical prospects will say yes!

My advertising service is just that – too good a service for me to pass up. LaunchBit put me in the online media business just by finding this newsletter (based on its excellent content) and offering to make the Chuck Sink Link actually pay something. All I had to do was give them some basic information and now this little newsletter generates a bit of income aside from the educational service it provides you.

So, just wait till you click on our feature ad today. I’m not saying this to be self serving. I’m blown away by how simple, easy and valuable this online tool is sign up for. If they follow through with their promise, this company will skyrocket. By virtue of their UX (User Experience) alone, this company will do extremely well. It is one of the best websites I’ve visited in a long time!

Quick update: after signing up so easily, a highly professional individual has emailed me twice and was very forthcoming with pricing and product info. We’re connected now as fellow marketing professionals.

Make sure you click the ad below before you exit. If you’re a businessperson, you’ll want to consider arming yourself with this tool because, literally, your competition will be all over you if they do. And yes, Mr. McEnroe, I AM SERIOUS!

Track Your Competitors What’s working in your competitors digital marketing? Let’s not leave that unanswered, so get tracking with TrackMaven – the competitive intelligence platform. (Sponsor this newsletter)

The post Be So Good They Have to Try You! 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 default position of almost every corporate communication decision is the watered down, safe, politically correct version of the story. Unfortunately, that’s the bogus version.

The risk of offending one vocal audience member has executives cowering in fear of the social and political mobs. Honesty and truth are hiding in the minds of communicators as they try to offend nobody and please everyone.

Did you know that you are often right and those who disagree with you are often wrong?  Seriously, did you know that your deeply held, principled values are very likely better for our society than the values of those vehemently opposing you? Yes it’s true and you need to speak truth to power as well as to ignoramuses.

If you know something to be true and have the evidence behind you, be forthright and honest in your communications, regardless of whom may be offended. I’m fairly certain I will lose 2, 3 maybe 5 subscribers over this newsletter content. That’s okay with me because I have a very loyal core of readers in this audience. You are the people who make good things happen in my world. Thank you! <3

Trust in business is vital to our economic freedom and vitality. The only people we can really trust are those who are willing to tell us exactly what they believe to be true. Keep in mind that discretion and judgement are important in guiding what needs to be said, to whom and when.

Keep all communications relevant, in proper context and based in love. That way, even your adversaries will hear the ring of truth in what you have to say.

The post Crack a Few Shells to Get Food for Thought appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

We all want to make money, earn money, save money. Make no mistake. If you want to design and build the physical manifestation of your dreams, all it takes is money.

So how do you view cash, the most liquid form of money? For any business, having sufficient cash on hand keeps operations running. Cash can be summoned to fix all kinds of problems. Having abundant cash on hand provides investment leverage to lift a business up to a higher level.

In business, what’s the bottom line really all about? Cutting to the chase it’s always about making more money and keeping more money, and there is nothing wrong with that. I’m striving to grow my business, primarily in revenues so I will have enough cash on hand to hire people and buy things that will better serve my clients. I want to help my clients grow their businesses because, should I repeatedly fail in that endeavor, I’m out of business!

But looking at cash reserves as an end rather than a means is a dangerous viewpoint. I used to set sales, revenue and personal income goals as my primary objectives to be reached. The question became, then what? The easy answer was, if I had enough cash, then I could purchase things to make life better. Make life better…  In truth I just want to make life easier!  My mother used to say, “Money isn’t everything but it sure can smooth over the rough edges.”

Cash is merely a tool and a powerful one indeed. People ask how high you want them to jump if you dangle enough cash over their heads. Everyone needs cash to survive economically, whether earned or gifted. It’s amazing how enterprising and industrious a sloth will become when his gifts run out and necessity beckons.

I’ve been musing about money and many thoughts came to mind about the positive things cash can help accomplish. The more I thought about it, a list began to form as to how an ethically centered business would view cash.

Cash is:

A tool | An enabler | A means | A replacement for work | A commodity of the wealthy | Grease | Wheels | Speed | Help | A gift | Proof | Influence | A substitute | Power | A yes answer | Security | Repair | Bailout | Incentive | Opportunity | Magnanimity in motion | A SERVANT… What else can you think of?

Cash is also very shy, elusive and discriminating. It only follows value – value in the eyes of the beholder.

There is a marketing lesson here! What of value do you give in exchange for cash? Define it! Communicate it with precise clarity to an audience of beholders and you will unlock the vault. Customers will come to you. They will travel farther, wait longer and pay more for your product and service.

There is a moral to this essay. Remember this as you gratefully serve your customers and community: Any legacy you build with money stays right here when you go. Be mindful about what you really treasure within your heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The post Cash: King, Master or Servant? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Go ahead and “work your magic.” Savor those words coming from clients because they prove that you’ve earned their professional trust. Work your magic – that’s a powerful statement!

For the person who wants you to work it, your magic is to them accomplishing an impossible task for which they’ll pay you. Sometimes, what I do seems a little magical when I’m tasked with a project about which I initially know nothing. Somehow a commercial white paper or in depth training manual comes out of me, from where, I don’t know. But that’s why I’m in business. I can write succinctly or verbosely about almost anything while most folks struggle to get a paragraph out.

What’s your magic? What do you do that few others can do with as much thoroughness and alacrity? What’s your particular art form for which others would commission you? Therein lies you valuable offer but you also need to differentiate yourself or your product from the competition. That’s where some brand magic will help your business.

Positioning my friends. It’s all about positioning. Do you occupy a position in your audience’s mind relative to your category? Does your brand occupy a position in the market that your competition can’t or won’t encroach upon.

For what exactly do you really want to be known? Create a hybrid category of sorts for your product/service offering that really makes it better for your customers. Then communicate why. Stay on message with all your marketing communications.

Branding really does help increase sales when you have something authentic to brand.

The post Work Your Magic appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

The debate rages among sales executives and trainers on two extremely differing schools of thought about selling. One school follows the traditional model: Prospecting > Appointments > Presentations > Follow up > Close. The other model (which has been around just as long) takes only one word to describe: positioning.

Business hard asses believe the only way to increase sales is to increase the volume of activities in the traditional model. They will insist on making more cold calls, setting more appointments, following up however many times it takes, answering every objection, asking for the order 3 times and even attempting to psychologically manipulate the prospect into saying yes. The sale is more important than the relationship because the eye is only on the current month’s bottom line.

Oh, the injustice!

The problem with the old school of selling is that when you push for an appointment with someone who isn’t ready to buy, that person agrees to a meeting with the intent of learning something from the salesperson, or else why waste the time? What often happens is the prospect innocently pumps the potential vendor for information to help them make an informed future purchase. The salesperson mistakes this for deep engagement. Then after a time the prospect buys from another salesperson who’s developed a stronger relationship and whom they trust as a category leader, having been positioned as such. The first salesperson cries foul. “I’m just an unpaid consultant! I provided all that time and information to help her make a more informed purchase and she bought from someone else!”

Carrying a resentment, the unsuccessful salesperson may bring suspicion and negative attitudes to the next new business meeting. He may withhold valuable information as a bargaining chip or attempt to manipulate the buying cycle because he’s skeptical about the prospect’s intentions. Guess what happens then? In waltzes the trusted brand leader (by invitation) to scoop up the business.

Pushing hard to make sales can work in the short term. You can make a living but you’ll never earn a fortune doing it because there’s only one of you to go around. You have to keep chasing after the next new customer or transaction, one by one, to keep revenue flowing (or trickling). Your customers will drop you in a heartbeat for a lower price or a perceived better deal. The relationship clients have with most hard charging salespeople is only one or two transactions deep. Client respect and loyalty require something more than exchanging products and services for money or getting the deal of the day.

The New Hustle

Positioning your brand with real value; attracting new customers to call you with the intention of doing business is the superior model of sales & marketing and it’s far from a passive approach. It requires you to stick yourself out there in the market and let people have some of what you offer. It requires that you be generous with your knowledge and time at conferences and networking events; giving speeches, seminars and interviews for the right target audiences. It requires a strong presence on the Internet, offering your website and blog as an industry resource, geared toward your customers. It requires robust social media activity, posting content that’s entertaining, educational, ego-feeding and enriching. Overarching all of these activities is conveying a consistent brand identity across multiple channels and always delivering on your brand promise.

Love when this happens!

When you get an unsolicited phone call or an email that says something like, “I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about your work and I’d like you to help my company with…” you’ve hit pay dirt. There is no pressure to make a sale or worry about qualifying in the prospect’s mind. The prospect has already made his decision to hire you. You earned his trust by demonstrating your value already. Your brand occupies the leading category position in his mind. Price is secondary. He’s willing to pay more, if necessary, to secure your services over the competition.

Positioning even works well in the short term because delivering your message to many at once as opposed to one prospect at a time will insert you into more selling opportunities. For example, giving a best practices or industry hot topic presentation can put you in front of 50, 100, or more prospects for an hour or so at a single meeting. You have their attention and you’re the expert. That kind of positive exposure could take months to accomplish with one-on-one meetings using the traditional sales model.

The branding, sales and marketing functions have always been codependent. Today they are inexorably intertwined.

The post Unpaid Consultant or Category Leader? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

By Chuck Sink                                       Subscribe to my newsletter by clicking here

A young professional posted a question for The Brand Strategy Discussion Group on LinkedIn. She’s a Lifestyle and Brand Communications Intern at Daimler (Mercedes Benz). She asks: “Does positioning still matter in today’s fast growing market environment? Are the alternative communication methods slowly taking over a good positioning strategy?”

At first I balked, thinking the question made no sense; that it was like asking if a brand is still a brand. Then I started thinking about how many companies don’t bother with positioning exercises and why that is a major reason they don’t lead their categories. So I decided to read the comments and was pleased to see that this LinkedIn group understands the importance of positioning very well. The comments in the thread were excellent and very informed. The young lady is probably better educated now – more so than her years of college taught her about branding. Why else would she ask the question?

I can understand why young people starting a marketing career may question such old-fashioned marketing fundamentals as positioning. After all it’s a concept expounded upon by Al Ries and Jack Trout during the stone ages of 1980s in their bestselling book so named. The new media technologies and communication channels have some novice marketing professionals dazzled by mere tools and that’s where they focus their energies. They concentrate on where and how to advertise rather than why customers should pay attention to real value. They confuse tactics with good strategy.

The speed with which tech changes have been occurring is quite dazzling but principles of human nature and the mind remain constant. The battle for the mind is still raging. It will always be vitally important for brand marketers to occupy a position in customers’ and prospects’ minds. That’s what positioning is all about and it’s more important today than ever. Short attention spans and message clutter challenge us to hold a consumer’s mind captive for even a few seconds. Therefore, the brand that is positioned best in the mind (and heart) will always be the winner in the market.

Think of some examples. Does Apple position its brand? What about BMW? Of course, they both do. These are two companies that do a superb job of it in my opinion. They occupy dominant positions in consumers’ minds that are communicated with consistency. When asked about these brands, consumers know what they stand for.

Some brands use taglines effectively while others don’t even need them. Apple’s brand positioning is communicated so well at the product level they don’t use tag lines. Mac, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, Apple Store – you get the picture. BMW’s “The Ultimate Driving Machine” states clearly that no other automobile can be a BMW. “Ultimate” is an exclusive word so BMW must authentically live up to that standard, and they do. Note well, if they start making less than thrilling-performance cars, their brand value will drop and their positioning will be meaningless. The lesson here is you can’t fake it. When positioning a brand, “truth well told” is our highest ideal.

In summary, positioning is what helps your customers and prospects understand why your products and services are valuable to them. So by all means, invest time and effort in a strong positioning strategy and then start using the myriad communication channels available to you to win the battle for the mind!

The post Only Winning Brands Do This appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.