To give people reasons to trust your business, to encourage them to choose your business over others, you need a competitive advantage. Learn how you can leverage the power of your brand as competitive advantage for your business here.
Have you ever wondered why people buy your products or use your services? And have you ever wondered why they don’t?
Your branding strategy might hold the answer.
A while ago, Ari Krzyzek, our CEO & Head of Strategy, has shared on Femtech Insider some expert tips about branding for femtech companies. Beyond that, it turns out that branding can also be leveraged as a competitive advantage to give people reasons to trust and choose your business over others.
What is competitive advantage?
It is possible that you’re not familiar with the term competitive advantage, but we believe you are familiar with the practice. Competitive advantages are what make people decide whether or not they would buy your product or service.
When buying a wearable device, you would compare the features — these features are the competitive advantages.
When you’re buying groceries, you would go to a supermarket that offers lower prices, with better service from the staff. The competitive advantages here are price and customer service.
What about branding, then? How can you leverage it as a competitive advantage?
Your brand as competitive advantage
Other than tangible factors like features and price, you can also leverage your branding as a competitive advantage.
Think about Apple. They have a very robust brand and people keep buying their products just because they’re Apple. This brings us to the question…
How does branding give a competitive advantage to your femtech company?
To brand your femtech business in a way that can be a competitive advantage against all your competitors, you need to revisit and reinforce your brand strategy.
Branding doesn’t work without a strong strategy. If you haven’t done so in a long time, consider revisiting your brand strategy and see if anything needs improvement. You would want to make sure that you have the five pillars of branding stated loud and clear, as they are essential to identify what makes your company unique and different.
So, what are the five pillars of branding you need to pay attention to?
- Brand purpose
- Brand personality
- Brand positioning
- Brand perception
- Brand promotion
Now let’s take a look at each one of these pillars.
Brand purpose
Some of you might wonder, is brand value a competitive advantage? Our answer is yes. But not just values — identifying your brand values, vision, and missions will help you determine your differentiating factors. For instance, if your brand values diversity and inclusion, your brand will appeal to people who are D&I-conscious, and they might prefer your brand over your competitors.
Brand personality
If your brand were able to speak, what would it sound like? Would it be sophisticated, imaginative, or intelligent? And if your brand were a person, would it be Beyoncé or Taylor Swift? Determining and living these traits can personify your brand. Your brand will have a soul and people will find it easier to relate to it. This way, it will be easier for you to build a relationship with your target audience.
Brand positioning
Now that you have determined your brand purpose and personality, you need to communicate them consistently. The objective is to have your audience continuously exposed to your brand’s uniqueness and the message is instilled. Let’s say your D&I-friendly brand speaks in a humorous way. If your target audience sees a campaign about people of color with witty wording, they will remember your brand and relate it to the campaign.
Brand perception
When done correctly and cohesively, the three previous pillars will lead to the desired perception that can’t be imitated. Your audience can see that you truly live your brand purpose and personality, and that puts you in a unique position compared to other similar brands. Not just your target audience actually, but also your employees. For example, employing diverse team members across your company. Both your audience and employees will perceive that, yes, this is a diverse and inclusive brand.
Brand promotion
All these pillars need to be tied together nicely with brand promotion. Brand promotion focuses on building awareness and loyalty, not sales. There are so many different marketing channels you can use to promote your brand — website, social media, ads, offline media, and others. No matter which ones you use, be sure to stay consistent with your brand purpose, personality, and positioning. You can also work with influencers who share similar images and purposes as your brand. It puts your brand even closer to your audience, and you get the benefits of getting traction from the influencers’ loyal followers.
Ready to leverage your branding as a competitive advantage?
All in all, having solid branding not only helps kick off your marketing strategy but also provides you with a competitive advantage. It helps your audience see what makes your brand unique and why they should buy from you.
If you’re interested in learning more about leveraging branding as a competitive advantage, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter, The Next Draft, below. You’ll be the first to receive more resources around branding, femtech and women-owned businesses, design, and development!
