To do digital marketing well, you must have a strong, cohesive marketing strategy overall, not only in the digital sphere, but in every aspect of how you present your business and your brand. Unfortunately, this is something that a great number of businesses fail to do. They present their products or services as something boring, dry, or functional. There’s little that’s remarkable about their marketing, and as a result, their intended audience perceives that there’s nothing remarkable about their business, either. These marketing efforts fail to catch the attention of prospects and ultimately fade into the sea of advertising din people experience on a daily basis and tune out. It doesn’t have to be this way if you think and act creatively.
In a time when humans are bombarded by more marketing messages than ever before, it’s vital for your business to stand out. In other words, you must be remarkable to catch your prospective customer’s attention. If someone is looking for the services or products you provide, what will make them choose you over another business? If there’s nothing interesting, noteworthy, or different about your business that gives you an edge over your competition, that prospect is likely to choose a business that has those qualities.
One of the biggest secrets to great marketing is to highlight what’s remarkable about your business. It may take some brainstorming and careful thought to determine what that messaging should be. You might have a great number of remarkable qualities—in which case you’ll need to determine what is most important to your prospective customer—or you might think you have none. If you’re one of many similar businesses, it might be difficult to point out what’s remarkable about your business. You might think you’re just another auto mechanic, physical therapist, or hairstylist. You do a good job or provide a good product, but for many types of businesses, it can be difficult to see what’s exciting or noteworthy about what you do.
If that’s you, it’s likely you don’t have the right marketing mindset. Marketing isn’t just about the advertisements you put out to promote your business. It’s also about who your business is—your brand. If you can’t find anything remarkable about your business, that might mean it’s time for change. In order to create truly excellent marketing that will grow your revenue, you need to become remarkable, and then leverage that remarkability. It’s easier than you think.
- Believe you are remarkable.
Have you put the old advice “fake it till you make it” to the test? If you have, you might know it to be remarkably effective. By acting as though you have a certain quality, you can trick yourself into believing you actually have that quality, at least for a time. You put your doubts in yourself aside and just step forward to do whatever is required of you in the moment. If you do this enough, you’ll eventually realize you are capable of whatever you’re doing—you’ve been doing it successfully, after all.
Right now, you may not believe you have a noteworthy business. But you won’t be able to become noteworthy until you believe you are. If you tell people your business is remarkable but you don’t believe it yourself, it’s going to come across like what it is—a lie. But as soon as you believe you’re remarkable, you’ll be able to create authentic messages about what makes your business different and noteworthy.
- Be different from your competition.
Perhaps what’s getting in the way of believing you’re remarkable is that you don’t know what’s noteworthy about your business. Chances are there’s already something you do that’s different from the rest of your competition, something that gives you an edge. Identify a few things that make your business unique and determine which of those things are the most remarkable. Don’t be afraid to recruit help by asking feedback from your team members and even your customers or clients. If you’re unable to identify anything of significance, it may be an indication that something larger needs to change in your business.
- Do remarkable things and make a positive impression.
No matter how much your business stands out from the competition, you can always do more to differentiate yourself. After all, you want your company’s name to be the first thing people think of when they need the type of product or service you provide. You can make yourself stand out by doing remarkable things. This is the most powerful tool you have to become remarkable—if you do remarkable things, you will be remarkable. That might mean having a unique business model, doing something exceptionally well, providing service above and beyond the norm in your industry, or even simply connecting with your local community in meaningful ways, such as sponsoring events or participating in charitable efforts.
Remember, the point is to make a positive impression so people will talk about your business. Don’t stop at doing a single remarkable thing, either. The more you can make your business stand out in the market, the better. If you provide the best customer experience along with the best product or service, that will make you much more memorable than just one of those things. And whatever you do, don’t do it quietly. No one is going to know you’re remarkable if you don’t tell them about it—and that’s where marketing comes in.
- Tell people how remarkable you are.
You have to start by believing your business is remarkable and identifying what makes it so, and from there you can begin to build your noteworthiness by doing more remarkable things. While all of these steps will naturally bleed into your marketing efforts, you’ll get the most out of it if you put an emphasis on communicating the ways your business is unique.
The first step is to create a narrative about who your company is and how it’s different from the rest of the industry. This should be something that’s easy to communicate quickly, so the messaging can be used on a variety of platforms. You can always have a more in-depth version on your website, but you need to draw people there first.
Second, utilize the press to draw attention to your business and all the remarkable things you’re doing. It’s a good idea to have a media list where you can pitch your story. But it’s not enough to simply sell the story of your business once. You need to constantly remind people. That’s the power of doing remarkable things—the more remarkable things you do, the more opportunities you have to draw attention to your business and to get press coverage.
When you’ve secured press coverage, make sure you’re set up to leverage it. If a news article about your business doesn’t link to your website, that’s a lost opportunity to bring in new clients or customers. Similarly, if you’re not set up to receive new business—for example, not having someone to answer the phone or having a website that doesn’t function properly—you won’t be prepared to leverage the new opportunities the press coverage may bring you. Have a plan in place to funnel new leads into paying customers or clients.
Marketing in the digital age is all about standing out amongst the noise of the competition, so how remarkable your business is will determine your success. It’s the secret ingredient of excellent marketing that makes people remember your business and spread the word about it. So, what makes your business remarkable?
