What Business Are You REALLY in?

by: Steve Finkill

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What business are you in? The way you answer that question will determine who will engage with you in an increasingly digital world.

Most organizations answer this question with a mission statement. Too often, though, mission statements are long, confusing, and filled with insider terminology. Those types of mission statements are not helpful when it comes to the messaging on your website or social platforms. What do you do?

We’ve found that it’s helpful to have both a brand positioning statement and a tagline. These two, when they are developed intentionally, can work together to communicate your business on multiple levels.

What’s a brand positioning statement?

A brand positioning statement is a logical description of what you do. The best brand positioning statements are no more than 15-20 words in length, do not include insider terminology, and include some description of your uniqueness as an organization.

What is unique about your approach to your business? What sets you apart from your competitors or other organizations in your market? You may have heard this described before as your unique selling proposition.

Your brand positioning statement should tell people what you do in a way they can understand … while including some description of your unique approach or philosophy.

What’s a tagline?

A tagline is a short, memorable phrase that captures the key benefit you provide to your target audience. It does not describe what you do (that’s what the brand positioning statement is for), it describes the result of what you do in the lives of your audience members.

So, for example, Nike’s tagline is “Just Do It.” By itself, that doesn’t tell you what Nike does. If you had no other context for Nike as an organization, you wouldn’t know, logically, what they do. But you know that the desired result of what they do is empowering, equipping, and motivating people.

The tagline speaks much more to the emotive side of the brain—tapping into emotions, values, and results.

If you bring together Nike’s tagline with a logical brand positioning statement like “athletic equipment meticulously designed to help you reach your potential,” all of a sudden, their brand message becomes very clear.

So what business are you in? What is it you do … exactly? If you can answer that question from both a logical perspective (brand positioning statement) and an emotive perspective (tagline), you’ll communicate clearly to your audience and they will be able to more fully engage with you and your brand.

> Read more from Steve.

To learn more about these communications tools, connect with an Auxano Navigator. 

Tags: Brand Positioning Statement, Communication, ID Digital, Steve Finkill, Tagline

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3 Reminders that Get People Moving

by: Steve Finkill

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How do human beings make decisions?
What is it that causes us to move from a prospective buyer to a loyal customer?

Is it understanding certain features and benefits? Maybe.
Is it price? That certainly plays into it.

What many people don’t realize is that the decision-making part of the brain is the emotional part of the brain. While some people certainly process more logically than others, the final buying decision is much more closely tied to emotion than anything else.

“I read through the brochure and it just felt like the right fit.”
“I looked at their website and knew in my gut that they were the right company for us.”

Those are the kinds of things we say when we’ve made a decision … because our final decision is based on “feeling good” about something. The question is, what does it takes to get your buyers to the point where they are “feeling good”?

If we understand this, then our marketing messages should both begin and end with more emotive language. The features and benefits descriptions still need to be included, but they should come in the middle, not at the end.

When we’re ready to make the call to action, we need to appeal to the emotional part of the brain. Here are 3 things to keep in mind when writing your call to action.

1. Be clear.
   No one feels good about a fuzzy decision. So make your ask direct and clear.
2. Be concise.
   The call to action, the final ask, can’t be long and drawn out. “Buy Now!” “Get Started!” “Learn More.”
3. Use emotional language if possible.
   The lead-up to the call to action needs to address any fears and invite the audience to get moving … and that means emotion. This is why scarcity (“Only 3 more left!”) and urgency (“Sign Up Today!”) can work effectively if used well. They’re tapping into the emotional side of the brain.

Features and benefits are important. Getting people the right information matters. But ultimately, the thing that will move people into action is an emotion.

> Read more from Steve and the ID Digital Team here.

Tags: Communication, Decision making, Emotion, ID Digital, Steve Finkill

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