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20 Questions to Help You Differentiate Your Brand

A few years ago, I wrote a post on the 60 Second Marketer called “20 Questions to Help You Differentiate Your Brand.” It was based on a list I got from a good friend of mine named Alan Deeter, who now runs the Dangerous Kitchen brand consultancy.

With that in mind, here’s the list. It seems to be just as valuable today as it was a few years ago:

How are you differentiating your product or service? Use these questions to help you figure out the answer.

  1. What are we at present?
  2. What do we want to become in 2 to 5 years?
  3. What is our greatest opportunity in the next 2 years?
  4. Why is that such a great opportunity?
  5. What would we need beyond our company’s current strengths/positioning/products to seize the opportunity described above?
  6. What is our greatest threat?
  7. Are these threats that we can control? If so, what should we do to control them?
  8. What do we do better than anybody else?
  9. When we win, why do we win?
  10. How does our customer benefit from what we sell?
  11. What are the top three reasons customers have bought our products or services?
  12. What are the typical objections to a sale? In other words, when we don’t gain a new customer, what is the reason given?
  13. What percentage of next year’s revenue is expected from new vs. existing customers?
  14. Going forward, what are the essential attributes of our target customer? (Industry segment, size of organization/corporation, demographics, job position, motivators, internal and external influencers, buying habits, key message points, factors in buying decisions, associations, publications, trade shows.)
  15. Who are our key competitors?
  16. What type of work do we most enjoy?
  17. Who is our competition targeting?
  18. How do we wish to be viewed in relation to our competition?
  19. What is the typical sales cycle?
  20. What values, personality, and attitude do we want to project?

Are there any questions you’d add to the list? If so, let us know in the comments section below.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. To download a free chapter of Jamie’s new book, click “How to Make Money with Social Media.”

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Time Monday, August 30th, 2010, 4:19 pm   |   CategoryBranding  |  RssRSS feed |  CommentRespond  |  TrackbackTrackback

  • James_wheat

    Great list – very precise and practical ! Well done. tt

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Thanks, James. I’m glad you like the list!nnBest, Jamie

  • http://www.redboxstudio.com/blog Krista

    Thanks! Very timely reminders. Many business owners forget these crucial questions as they run their daily operations. It’s all about a sense of perspective and focus. I especially liked Q#16 as I find that sometimes we all get sucked into doing work we don’t really enjoy as much. By focusing on work which I want to do instead of work I have to do, I am playing to my strengths and passion.

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Great thoughts and comment, Krista. Glad to see you here!

  • Nataliasequation

    Great list. Questions #12 and #20 are very important for me and I would add one more question: How can we deliver in a right way our values, personality and attitude to our customers.n Thank youn Natalia

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Great addition, Natalia. Thanks for sharing!

  • http://twitter.com/Flashbay Peter Cardin

    How about, what other methods we can use to drive brand awareness or brand exposure?

    This article helps answer that questions. http://bit.ly/j7PYxS

  • http://www.simplegrafx.com R C Evans

    Nice list…very thought provoking.  Most small business owners don’t understand the importance of having a USP (unique selling position).  The first two questions I ask when talking with a potential client are, “Why should the customer buy from you?”  And, “What makes you different from your competitors?”  It’s amazing how many don’t have an immediate answer to either question.

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Hi, RC. Glad you like the list. I’m also surprised how many people don’t have a USP. Hopefully, this list will help them get there.

    Best,
    Jamie

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Hi, RC. Glad you like the list. I’m also surprised how many people don’t have a USP. Hopefully, this list will help them get there.

    Best,
    Jamie

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Hi, RC. Glad you like the list. I’m also surprised how many people don’t have a USP. Hopefully, this list will help them get there.

    Best,
    Jamie

  • Pingback: 20 Questions to Ask About Your Brand | Logomaker Blog

  • Scott McDougal

    Cool article. Thanks for the link to the DK website and blog as well. Bookmarked! 

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Glad you liked the post, Scott. I hope all is well!

  • http://twitter.com/SocialMediaEase Regina Kempster

    Branding is so important in every business. Thank you for sharing these excellent questions so we all can better our company’s marketing efforts. Cheers, Regina

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Glad you found the questions helpful, Regina. We’re working on an expanded list as we speak. Stay tuned!

  • Ma_moyo

    I found this interesting…I am working on modernising our brand identity, what questions can I include in questionnairs to customers on the characterics that should be maintained? Thank you.

  • http://www.60SecondMarketer.com Jamie Turner

    Hi, Ma_Moyo — You ask a great question. The key is to “think backwards” and by that, I mean to get inside the mind of your customer and look at your product/service from their angle.

    I would ask them the standard questions (e.g., Why did you purchase our product/service, Which competitors did you also consider, If we charged 20% more, would you still buy our product/service). One of the key tricks, however, is to interview people who CONSIDERED buying your product/service, but who went elsewhere. That’s where you’ll find gold.

    Good luck!

    – Jamie