Supply Chain Brand Positioning: How to Attract and Convert New Customers

 

As a supply chain brand, it has become increasingly important to pay attention to your positioning in order to ensure that potential customers can find you—and that they’re ready to choose you amidst a sea of competitors. In the modern supply chain landscape, buyers are doing more research online and engaging later in the sales cycle, often once they are already close to making a decision. Having the right messaging is critical to helping your brand stand out and attract buyers who are interested in what you have to offer. A clear supply chain brand positioning strategy ensures those buyers recognize why your company is different. Clear, differentiated messaging cuts through a crowded marketplace and makes it easier for buyers to understand exactly what makes your brand stand out—and worth connecting with.

Positioning isn’t about what you do. Rather, it’s about what your customers need to hear, from advice about how to take their brands to the next level to solutions to the problems they’re facing in today’s ever-changing landscape.

 

Define and Refine Your Value Proposition

One of the first steps in positioning your brand is ensuring that you have a solid understanding of your value proposition: what you can offer potential customers and how that’s different from your competitors. Start with this basic framework that makes it easy to craft a compelling value proposition:

Audience + Pain Point + Solution + Outcome

In practice, that means starting with a solid understanding of your audience and who they are. Who are you trying to reach? What is different about them? Next, take a closer look at the challenges they’re facing. What are they dealing with that your brand can solve? What is your solution to their challenges—and how is it different from what your competitors have to offer? When you can clearly and effectively detail those values, you are better positioned to let customers know exactly what you have to offer. This clarity forms the foundation of strong supply chain brand positioning.

The Importance of Language Choice

As you craft your value proposition, make sure that you avoid technical jargon, which could confuse customers and prevent them from fully seeing everything your brand has to offer. In addition, strive to speak to customer priorities. It does you little good to present a value proposition that does not add genuine value to your customers.

Take a look at brands like Slack (“be more productive at work with less effort”) or Uber (“the smartest way to get around”). These brands clearly understand what their customers need, and they present their value in a way that is easy to understand and speaks directly to those needs.

Aligning Brand Voice and Visual Identity

Your brand needs a cohesive presence across every channel where you interact with customers, including the internet, email, and other digital channels. Customers are looking for the same experience each time they connect with your brand. They want to see the same language, the same focus on customer service, and the same types of interactions regardless of where they connect with you. Consistency is key for developing that vital customer understanding of your brand and maintaining the connection that you’re creating with them.

With consistent branding, from the visual elements to your voice, you convey that your brand is reliable and trustworthy. Consistency also reinforces supply chain brand positioning, helping buyers connect the dots across every touchpoint. You also show that you are able to adapt quickly and effectively to the changing market or to your customers’ needs. As a result, customers will feel that they can count on you—a feeling that will continue when they’re ready to make buying decisions.

Using Content as Proof of Expertise

 

When customers are ready to choose a supply chain brand, they want to know that you are an expert in your field. They may not understand the logistics of maintaining an effective supply chain or the tools and strategies that can help save them money and make deliveries on time—but you do, and you need to showcase that expertise in order to establish your authority and build customer confidence. Thought leadership content is the best tool in your arsenal for showing your customers just how much you know about their pain points and your field. Create blogs, guides, and webinars that answer customer questions and provide them with the tools necessary to address their problems. Show them case studies that establish your past effectiveness, including how you have helped other customers like them.

Educational content helps create trust and shortens the sales cycle. It:

• Creates a vital connection with customers as they turn to your brand for their educational needs in your industry
• Establishes your authority in your field
• Helps set you apart from your competitors
• Guides customers through the sales cycle without hands-on help from your sales team

While it takes time to build an effective content library, investing that time and energy can go a long way toward guiding customers through the sales cycle. Since many of them are doing their own research online before making those connections with your brand, that content can be an essential first step in connecting with them.

Building Emotional Trust Alongside Operational Credibility

Social proof has become increasingly important for many potential customers. They want to know what types of experiences others have had with your brand to get a better idea of why they should trust you. Provide testimonials, certifications, and case studies that paint a picture of that experience and showcase the full range of what your brand can offer.

Social proof can be particularly important for brands with complex operations, including supply chain brands. Through the power of stories and real-world wins, you can make those operations more relatable and create a deeper sense of connection with your potential customers.

Actionable Steps to Audit and Improve Your Positioning

When you’re ready to explore your current positioning and improve your brand clarity, these simple steps can help you get started.

• Examine your metrics. Explore engagement, lead quality, and conversion rate to see how your brand is attracting customers, particularly compared to others in your industry.
• Carefully evaluate your target audience. Make sure you have a solid understanding of who they are, their pain points, and how you can address them.
• Evaluate your content library. Is it reaching the people you want to attract? Are there places where you might be able to offer extra clarity or instruction?
• Consider available social proof and how you can better showcase your brand’s capability.

With these strategies, you can get a better idea of how your brand is currently positioned—and how you can shape your messaging more effectively in the future. Strong supply chain brand positioning ensures that differentiation translates into growth.

Are you looking to sharpen your logistics brand positioning and create digital campaigns that resonate with your audience? HyFyve is here to help.