You know the philosophical question, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s around to hear it—does it make a sound?
Well, this had me thinking about all the new businesses that launch each year—which, don’t get me wrong, I am here to celebrate and encourage all day long!
But here's my philosophical pondering.
With so many new businesses competing for our attention—especially those in industries that are, frankly, abounding with options—let me ask you this:
If someone starts a business with nothing to distinguish it—does it get noticed?
As a brand strategist and designer, part of my role is helping brands stand out online. So that’s what this blog aims to offer you. Whether you’re just starting a business, restarting a business, or refreshing your brand, take note of these five strategies that will help you distinguish your business and make your brand stand out online.
CONTENTS
1. Stand Out Online with Memorable Brand Messaging
One of my favourite ways to stand out online and beeline to your ideal audience is to craft memorable brand messaging. Generic jargon isn’t doing you any favours. Clever and concise messaging that you can hang your hat on as a brand is going to earn you all the recognition from the right people.
Establish a strong tagline that becomes synonymous with your business.
Craft a clear brand promise (aka. value proposition) that speaks directly to the emotional benefits your ideal clients are seeking.
Use my Marketing Messaging Framework to go through a fun exercise as you craft memorable messaging of your very own.
2. Invest in a Strategically Designed Brand Identity
As you know, many entrepreneurs starting a business will grab a logo template from Canva to give their business that “official” look and feel.
Unfortunately, thousands of other brands have grabbed the very same pre-made brand design. Good luck standing out on social media with a template. Using Canva templates ensures your brand will blend in with the crowd.
If you're a real estate agent, for instance, having a professional brand identity is going to be your greatest asset when trying to stand out online and in your market. Very few Realtors invest in their own brand, which is why those that do tend to have a far easier time acquiring new clients.
So, when you decide you’re ready to turn your brand into a beacon for your ideal clients, strategic design choices and professional brand strategies make all the difference for creating a brand experience that’s unique to you.
It allows you to surprise and delight your audience by activating their emotions, improving brand memorability and communicating your true expertise.
3. Increase Brand Appeal by Packaging your Services like Products
One of the best ways to level up the appeal of your offer suite is to treat your services like products. Create individual brand experiences around your offers that make marketing your services more fun and memorable. This is exactly what I did for my By Friday brand intensives.
When you present and package your offers like products with a brand of their very own, you amplify their value and make a clear distinction between your service and the competition’s similar service.
4. Do Things YOUR Way
So many of us have been conditioned to believe there is a right and wrong way to do business. It’s much easier to follow what’s been done before, where you can bank on proven success rates.
But if you really want your brand to stand out online and start turning (the right) heads on social media, give yourself permission to do things YOUR way.
Embrace your uniqueness and your weirdness and leverage it!
Easier said than done, sure. It’s taken me the better part of 3 years to act on this notion myself. But when you are ready to unlearn the usual ways of doing things for something entirely authentic to you—you’ll be rewarded by likeminded clients that appreciate and value your approach.
5. Stand Out Online by Looking for the Gap in your Industry
Chances are, if you’re in a saturated industry, there’s probably a very standard way of doing things. Listen, I’m all for keeping things simple and not muddying the process just for the sake of it. But I do encourage you to spend some time thinking about where a gap may exist in your industry. This could reveal ample opportunities for brand distinction.
Get acquainted with the standard services your peers are offering, this includes both big and small competitors. (Learn my framework for analyzing the competition to stand out online here.)
Make a list of the needs and desires your target audience is seeking.
Make a list of the hesitations they may have when it comes to investing in your offers.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here. Sometimes when you do a little market research—i.e. have conversations with your target audience—you may be surprised to find a very real opportunity to shake up your industry and do things differently.
There you have it! Five ways to distinguish your business and make your brand stand out online. It’s important to note that all of these require some level of strategy. They aren’t quick fixes. They’re purposeful branding solutions.
Because that’s what branding does. It has the ability to solve a myriad of business problems.
Say adios to tricks and hacks and do what many entrepreneurs still aren’t doing: invest in a professional solution.
Join me for a free Brand Realignment Call and get the objective perspective that may reveal opportunities for distinction that are right under your nose.
Jenny Henderson Studio develops memorable brand experiences and strategic brand foundations to improve recognition and revenue for service-based small businesses.
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