Brand differentiation requires you to be different. Not different for difference’s sake. That leads to stupid decisions that cost you awareness, market share, and customers. Take a client I worked with four years ago. They tried to own a new category in the market: operational creative agency. It looked different. Sounded different. And make them feel different in the market. None of their competitors were trying to own the operational creative agency category. But that difference had no...
8 days ago • 3 min read
Brand differentiation is more than being different. This is a lesson I teach in the live workshops I run for communities, business associations, and economic development organizations. Being different for the sake of being different is just plain stupid. Think about it. I could show up to every workshop I run dressed as a clown. That’s different. No other brand strategist on the face of the planet dresses like a clown when working with their clients. I would be the only one. But being...
15 days ago • 5 min read
Most of my $20M+ revenue clients don’t use LinkedIn for demand or lead gen. Shocking, I know. LinkedIn is positioned as the platform for growing a B2B business. Decision-makers, internal champions, and even interns are on LinkedIn. If you want to gain their attention, LinkedIn is the place to be, right? For many of my larger clients, the answer is no. Two years ago, we worked with a vacuum pump manufacturer. When I interviewed their customers and asked if they ever used LinkedIn, the answer...
22 days ago • 6 min read
A brand strategy is a decision about the foundation of your business. One that helps you choose: The unique value you bring to the market For whom (ideal customers) How (differentiator) That one decision dictates everything else you do: sales, marketing, messaging, website, operations, customer support, pricing, positioning, offer, service, product, and even human resources. All of it stems from that strategy. Most businesses skip that decision — out of fear of choosing wrong, not knowing how...
29 days ago • 5 min read
How well you know your ideal customers determines your business’ success. Most founders (and marketers!) say they know their ideal customers — and prove it by prattling off a list of demographic information. Job title, industry, revenue, business size, business type, buying committee members, age, education level, ownership style…the list goes on and on. The more progressive business owners even include psychographics: hobbies, interests, beliefs, books, podcasts, and influencers they follow....
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Positioning starts by knowing your competitors. You’ll never own a unique place in the minds of your ideal customers if you don’t know what already exists in the market. Is your process truly unique? Is your business really differentiated? Is anyone else making the same claims as you? If you don’t have a pulse on what your competitors are doing, you will end up looking and sounding just like them. That’s why every positioning project should start with competitive research. But don’t jump into...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Why should your ideal customers choose you over the competition? That’s the most important question every B2B service company needs to answer Because your ideal customers ask it every time they visit your website, read your content, see your ads, open your emails, watch your demo, or talk to your sales team. Why you? Most B2B service companies can’t answer that question clearly. And the ones who try to answer it default to “we care,” “we’re the industry leader,” or “we have the best quality.”...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Most B2B services are commodities. There are thousands of developers, recruiters, manufacturers, IoT providers, infrastructure-as-code providers, designers, accountants, lawyers, consultants, and fractional C-suite executives your customers can choose from. And all of them can be found in seconds with a simple Google or ChatGPT search. So most companies try to stand out by being ‘better.’ Better quality, better tech, caring about their customers more, faster delivery, easier interface, or,...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Why should your ideal customers choose your brand over the competition? That’s the most important question every person on your team should be able to answer — in a single sentence. Your ideal customers have hundreds of options to solve their pain points and can find them in seconds using Google or ChatGPT. Meaning, you need to present a clear reason why they should buy from YOU. And that’s where the problem lies. Most B2B service founders (and marketers, for that matter) don’t know what...
2 months ago • 5 min read