LBD #026: How to “Think Different” like Apple

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TL;DR & Summary

Building a strong brand is crucial in today’s competitive market. Many businesses make the mistake of blending in with their competitors, but standing out can make all the difference. By differentiating your brand, you can create a unique identity that resonates with your target audience.

In this issue, we’ll discuss how to build a strong brand that differentiates you from your competitors. By the end, you will be able to create a brand that stands out and resonates with your customers.

  1. Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
  2. Consistency is Key
  3. Engage with Your Customers

Many businesses struggle to stand out in today’s competitive market. They blend in with their competitors, causing them to get lost in the crowd. However, blending in can be detrimental to your business. Customers are more likely to remember and purchase from brands that are unique and stand out from the rest.

By creating a strong brand that differentiates you from your competitors, you can create a unique identity that resonates with your target audience. This will help you build brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, and ultimately, drive sales.

Many businesses struggle with differentiation because they don’t understand the importance of creating a strong brand. They don’t realize that a strong brand can help them stand out from the competition and attract more customers.

Here are four reasons why building a strong brand is important:

  • Helps you build trust with your customers
  • People recognize your products/services/campaigns
  • Helps you charge a premium for your products/services
  • Creates customer loyalty and turn them into advocates of your brand

Now that you understand why building a strong brand is important, it’s time to learn how to do it.

Here are three simple steps to help you build a strong brand that differentiates you from your competitors.

Step 1: Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Your USP is what sets you apart from your competitors. It’s the unique value that you offer to your customers that no one else can. To identify your USP, ask yourself:

  • What makes my product or service unique?
  • What problem does my product or service solve?
  • What benefits does my product or service offer that my competitors don’t?

Once you’ve identified your USP, use it to create a brand message that communicates your unique value to your customers.

Apple’s unique selling proposition is their focus on creating innovative and user-friendly technology products that seamlessly integrate with each other. They solve the problem of complicated technology by offering simple, intuitive products that work well together. Apple’s marketing philosophy has always been being empathetic with customers and building great products for them

Step 2: Consistency is Key

Consistency is key when building a strong brand. Make sure that your brand message is consistent across all your marketing channels, including your website, social media, and advertising. Use the same logo, color scheme, and messaging to reinforce your brand identity.

Apple has been consistent with their branding, using the same logo, color scheme, and messaging for years. Their clean, minimalist designs are instantly recognizable, and their marketing campaigns focus on the user experience rather than technical specifications.

This consistency has helped to create a strong brand identity for Apple, which is recognized and admired worldwide. The company’s commitment to quality and innovation is reflected in its products and marketing campaigns, which consistently emphasize simplicity, elegance, and ease of use.

For example, Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign uses a consistent style and aesthetic across all its ads, showcasing the camera capabilities of their iPhones through stunning images and videos. This campaign reinforces Apple’s commitment to high-quality products and user experience, while also highlighting the creative potential of their technology.

Step 3: Engage with Your Customers

Engaging with your customers is essential for building a strong brand. Use social media to connect with your customers and build relationships with them. Respond to their comments and messages, and use their feedback to improve your products or services.

Apple engages with their customers through social media (Features best photos under #shotoniPhone in their commercials), customer support, and community events. They listen to their customers’ feedback and have been known to make changes to their products based on customer input. By engaging with their customers, Apple has built a strong brand community that advocates for their products and helps to drive sales.

Did you know that the “Think Different” campaign also featured a video of Mahatma Gandhi, who was not typically associated with technology or innovation. The inclusion of Mahatma Gandhi was a deliberate choice, meant to emphasize the idea that creativity and innovation can come from anywhere, not just the world of business and technology.

How branding helps with SEO?

Branding can help with SEO in several ways:

  1. Brand recognition: Strong branding can help increase brand recognition, which can lead to more branded searches. When people search for your brand, it sends a signal to search engines that your brand is relevant and authoritative.
  2. Backlinks: Branding can also help attract backlinks to your website. When other websites mention or link to your brand, it sends a signal to search engines that your brand is reputable and trustworthy, which can help boost your rankings.
  3. Social signals: Social media is a key component of branding, and social signals (likes, shares, comments, etc.) can help boost your visibility in search results.
  4. User experience: Strong branding can also help improve user experience, which is a key factor in SEO. When users have a positive experience with your brand, they are more likely to engage with your website and stay on it for longer periods of time, which can help improve your search rankings.

SEO this week (news updates)

  1. All in One SEO plugin for WordPress vulnerability compromises 3+ million wordpress users
  2. If you want to get exposure from Google Discover section, you may need to checkout this update from Google. Google explains that their automated system uses a lot of signals same as search, for Discover as well.
Letters Bydavey Issue #026 talks about how branding help SEO. This issue also share 3 branding tips from Apple as an example.
Helpful content system documentation on Google Developer’s blog

Clickworthy resources (from LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube & web)

  1. How to grow first 1000 subscribers for your newsletter
  2. SEO’s guide on how to make the most out of ChatGPT
  3. You can interact with a YouTube video. Thanks to Bing!

One cool tool

  1. 12ft – A free tool that helps you unblock the paywall of premium publicationsAA

If you’re looking forward to winning online, here’s how I can help:

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