Your brand must stand for something, or your business will fail for nothing.
(Building a storybrand for your store to stand out against your competitors)
What happens to the desirability of your products when your customers live in a society where they can buy nearly anything they want online, from all around the world and have it sent directly to them wherever they are?
Well, you will just have to stand out in an outstanding world.
First things first, we have to accept that your high-spending target market/customer avatar is likely living in a hyper-capitalistic society.
What this means is that they have enough money to purchase any category of material items.
Meaning they can buy shoes, power banks, mugs, T-shirts, etc at nearly any price point.
So, if you are selling something in your shop today and its position as an item of utility, you are in for an uphill battle trying to differentiate your brand from others.
If you really want to create a powerful differentiation, you have to be able to change the stories people tell themselves about themselves after they acquire your product or be associated with your brand.
It’s not about how many airbags a car have that make it a different type of purchase.
What’s Their Desired Status?
It’s the impression and expression that the buyer is a safe or conscientious driver that really created those purchasing drivers.
Many marketers would refer to this as “Branding” or having a “Brand”.
Brands exist in the minds of our customers, and at its core, branding is all about associating your company or business with emotions, ideas or concepts.
Businesses would leverage the “brand” as an asset to short circuit the decision-making processes of their customers.
Companies invest in various channels, infrastructure and partnerships to create that impression of association with their target market.
Is it important to have a brand in today’s highly competitive marketplace?
For sure.
Leverage your strongest platform, and your website to achieve the right “brand” for your business.
Your website should communicate a story about what big problem you are trying to solve and how do you plan to go around solving the problem. More importantly, it should clearly communicate WHY your brand is concerned about the specific problem and why it is a worthy problem to solve.
What’s their Average Day?
You are not selling a cup to keep liquids warm or cold, you are helping people who appreciate the finer things in life prolong their small moments of pleasure.
Because life is already hectic enough without those moments disappearing.
Customers who purchase your thermal mugs are those who know how to appreciate the finer things in life like single-origin, cold-pressed coffee.
What Philosophical Problem Are You Solving?
Similarly, you are not selling power banks that are small and light.
You helping game-changers stay connected with their communities so that they can be at the forefront of climate change demonstrations without becoming disconnected.
Customers who are seen with your power banks which can magnetically be attached to iPhones feel that it’s important for them to be outside of the office, meeting people and being the eyes and ears of their communities on the ground.
When they purchase your power bank, they are telling themselves that they cannot afford to be disconnected, they are just too important members of the community.
All this begins with understanding your buyers’ motivations.
Here’s another one.
You are not selling a pen that is made from titanium. Instead, you help your customers express themselves to those around them that they are at the cutting edge of innovation while being grounded in the fundamentals.
When they reach success, their foundations ensure they never lose their footing and posture of success.
These pens are not here to take notes, but they are here to sign documents that would unlock resources for social causes or forget collaborations that would bring new technologies to alleviate social ills.
It’s not a pen, it’s an instrument of change, and your customers envision themselves as change-makers.
If you have not gotten the hint by now, let me just lay it out there.
You must start with a target market or customer avatar, and they really do not care about your business, company or brand. What they are occupied with is how you can help them survive or thrive in and around what is important to them. If your business does not stand for something, it will fail for nothing.
So, how can you get started?
1. Define your customer avatar
Yes, I know what you are thinking, when you pick a specific profile or market, you might lose out on those who do not resonate with your messaging.
The trick is to pick an avatar that others also aspire to associate with.
Don’t pick the profile of school dropouts who stayed in dead-end jobs, pick school dropouts who made it in good later in life, and those school dropouts who are still finding their way will also resonate with the brand!
Homeowners who are above 30 is not specific enough. Start with the measurable element, followed by their psychological profile and other special or unique attributes.
New homeowners who are looking to maximize the space in their small yet expensive home; want to move in fast and start a family even faster.
What is your customer avatar? The data points can be quite exhaustive.
2. No stake, no story, no story, no brand
What happens if James Bond fails his mission to disarm a bio-weapon? A deadly virus would be released in a city and over 3 million people would die.
Well, you have our attention.
What if James Bond has 3 other agents which can take over if he fails and the weapon is not set to go off until 3 years later?
Oh, suddenly, this story is much less interesting.
The next question to ask yourself is, what keeps your avatar profile up at night?
What are the moving pains or aspirational ideals that ache every time they are exposed to a trigger?
Perhaps, it really kills your avatar that she appears to be an average jane every time she bumps into her old friends.
She wants other to know that she is not only have good tastes, but she also is well connected enough to get an exclusive invitation to fashion launches.
Suddenly, shelling out US300 for an iPhone 13 Pro Max case that was part of an exclusive collaboration with Prada doesn’t sound so unreasonable. She doesn’t want to feel lesser than who she has become.
3. As easy as “just pay me”
Let’s face it, we already work hard enough and we don’t want to work any more than we have to.
And hey, it shouldn’t be that hard to get a self-esteem boost from the products your business offers your avatar!
The images on your website or e-com site should not only be of your products, but of the type, calibre and lifestyle choices your avatar aspires to be.
Selling a table lamp?
Feature pictures of young attractive people working on a large paper canvas with the caption, “Success is found in the dark, but celebrated in the light, TruLight; There for you”.
Your avatar should feel the association and emotion upon making the purchase, not even receiving your product itself.
The idea that a product is coming their way should be something that confirms the new narrative you have helped them to elevate towards.
In a world where “anyone” can buy anything from anywhere at any time, it’s no longer about what our products can or cannot do.
It’s about who we help our avatars become once they have decided to make a purchase from our businesses.
Your brand will attract opportunities, inspire movements, and help your customers live their best life ever.
Only if you are able to not only deliver your products to them but help give them more tools to help change the narratives they hold dear in their hearts.
Help them tell their stories with your products.
