You cannot effectively market your brand unless you know two things: what it is you are selling and what makes it unique. When we are talking about the business of marketing, too often decision makers are tempted to get sidetracked and start straying away from these two basic concepts of branding. They chase after a current trend or surrender marketing dollars to projects that don’t lend any credibility, value, or acceptance of their brand.

Let’s start with some very basic brand marketing. The first thing you have to understand in brand marketing is what it is you are selling. Every product or service has certain features, advantages and benefits that make them desirable to purchase by a group of people (a.k.a. your target market). That could be advanced technology that is better than anything the competition offers. It could be the way it looks. It could be a cheaper price than the alternative. Whatever it is that appeals to your target market, it is this unique attraction that helps you sell your products and services. Take some time to put these compelling criteria into a list.

Next, describe your target market - the people who would benefit most from your product or service. What does your brand do for them? Maybe it makes people feel good or it may make their life easier, solves a problem, or relieves their pain. What are the results of your target market using it?

Next, list how it works. For instance, if you’re selling carpet cleaners that gets out any food stains, pet odors, and ground in dirt, you could say that your brand loosens, lifts, and washes away the toughest stains.

Now take the components you just listed and put them into a statement as follows:

(Your brand) is a (definition using the list you made of your features, advantages and benefits) that helps (your target market) to (describe what your brand does for them). This is accomplished by (list how your brand works).

This is known as a Brand Positioning Statement. It is the guiding statement that defines what you are selling, who you are selling to, what your brand does to help them, and how you accomplish this. This should be listed on your About Us page of your website, on any marketing materials that define your brand, on your company’s social media page, etc.

Now we are going to produce one more key branding assertion. Look at your Brand Positioning Statement and pick out the parts that separate your products and services from your competition. What are you doing that they are not? Why is yours better than theirs? Make a bullet point list of these items in a way that defines your brand in the following manner:

Your brand is: (List the difference makers here.)

You have created what is known as a Unique Selling Proposition. These are the items you should be building all of your marketing around. Put these on the home page of your web site. Make them the headlines of your advertising. Get them in front of your customers.

Branding is all about helping the consumer understand what you are selling, but Brand Positioning is all about separating you from the competition and putting your brand in the more favorable position. If you stick to these two statements in all of your brand marketing messaging, you will keep your company from skidding off the tracks in marketing. They will keep you from chasing popular "fluff” marketing that does not contribute a thing to your brand or your bottom line.