1:: No more competing on price
I have already mentioned that with a strong and recognizable brand you will never again have to compete on price because you will be the only possible choice for your customer. I know it can be hard to believe especially if you have that slightly backward belief that customers only care about the price. And that’s the case if price is the only thing a customer can evaluate you on. If it’s the only thing he sees, and the only information he can associate with your company.
You have a strong brand when every point where your customer meets your brand tells your story. Which is unique and inimitable.
And it is precisely this uniqueness that attracts your customers. To choose you, they need to know your story, but before telling it, you too need to know what you want to tell and how. You should then map out all the points where this encounter takes place and decide which story of yours makes the most sense for your client to hear at that moment. And then you have to translate the elements of this story into emails, store design, words on the site and on social media, the way employees answer the phone, send quotes and invoices.
This experience or promise becomes so strong that your client chooses you not because he doesn’t know who else to choose or because they are all the same so I choose the one that costs less but because he wants to work with you.
2:: The brand is the most important asset of a company
Did you know that more than a third of Coca-Cola’s value is its brand? The estimated value of Coca-Cola is 180 billion dollars, without the Coca-Cola brand it is “only” worth 120 billion.
In the Olympus of excellent brands we find: Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft. And then there are the brands of the heart: Nike, Starbucks, Harley Davidson, Patagonia etc. And don’t think that this ranking is reserved only for multinationals.
I discovered that a very interesting event is being held in Italy. It’s called Save the Brand and is organized by LC Publishing Group. This event rewards medium-sized Italian companies that belong to the fashion, furniture and food sectors. Last year, among the 26 companies awarded there was also Molino Rossetto, Divella, Paluani and Tassoni Cedral. The research accompanying this event (conducted by Icm Advisors) also highlighted that for leading companies in these sectors, the brand represents between 20-40% of the market value.
3:: Reaching your customers will be easier and cheaper
The Cost per acquisition (CPA = the cost of a certain action performed by a user) will be lower. Don’t underestimate the power of clear, concise and linear communication. And thanks to a strong and consistent brand you will get exactly that. The brand helps you guide your audience on an often completely virtual journey where perfect strangers first become acquaintances who know what you do; then they decide they like the way you do things, they start to trust you, your skills and finally they become your customers.
The brand helps you build that KNOW – LIKE – TRUST factor (knows – likes – trusts) without which you cannot be successful online.
4: Customers will be more likely to pay the higher price
Thanks to this factor that I have just described, your company becomes the point of reference in the sector in which you operate. Companies that operate in the same sector often tend to adopt the same way of communicating. They copy each other, use the same words, the same iconography, the same stock images, and in the end they all look the same.
And then they are surprised and often even offended when the customer evaluates them based on the price or quote. At that point price is the only thing that sets companies apart and therefore the only thing your customer can take into consideration.
But when you have the courage to express and celebrate your uniqueness, there are no more doubts. Your customer chooses you easily because he has many more elements on which to evaluate you and not just on the price.
5:: Word of mouth online
Online reviews and recommendations are super important. A customer who chooses you consciously and because they believe in what you do and not just based on the price will be more inclined to leave a review and recommend you to friends. It’s a free, viral promotion that has priceless value.
People don’t trust promotions, they don’t trust marketing, data and facts, celebrities or authorities but they trust friends, followers, fans or any stranger on the net who leaves a review.
6:: A strong brand attracts, motivates and improves employee loyalty
We often forget that the first customers a company needs to convince are its employees. And not just because they will speak highly of the company they work for to their friends and acquaintances, but because they will be more motivated and engaged thanks again to the clarity of your vision. Their work takes on a whole new dimension; they help to create a vision that goes beyond money and salary The same virtuous circle is established as with clients: the exchange is no longer simply my time and commitment in exchange for money; but I contribute to something that is bigger than me.
