How to Distinguish your Brand: The Strategic Role of Search
Photo by ChatGPT
One of the core portions of our brand strategy work with small business clients is walking them through a number of exercises to help them distinguish their brand. We want to help our clients stand out from their competitors, and one of the critical ways to get there is by doing market research, particularly around keyword and topic search results. It’s the best way to stay in-the-know and discover what is resonating in your market, how your competitors are showing up, and where there are gaps you can fill. Armed with this knowledge, you can take inspiration from your competitors while ensuring that your brand positioning is fresh, original, and relevant.
Think like your Ideal Client
To begin your search results research, it’s important that you think like your ideal client. Remember: if you don’t show up when they are looking for your product or service, they’ll find– and choose– someone else. So, you need to step into your client’s shoes and imagine them sitting down to their favorite search engine, ready to type in a search:
What do they want to accomplish?
What are their challenges and goals?
What questions do they have?
What words and phrases might they use?
Where are they located?
It’s Not Just About SEO—It’s About Messaging
Keep in mind that researching keywords and topics isn’t just about SEO (search engine optimization); it will also help you clearly describe your services and hone in on your messaging. You simply can’t stand out from your competitors until you know what they’re saying and how they’re saying it in response to your clients’ searches.
How to Begin Your Search Results Research
We recommend doing a few broad category searches and then refining them to get more specific. We also suggest including a few searches that are in longer question form. Particularly as a small business, you will have a better chance of showing up in searches of long-tail keywords, which are more detailed and include more qualifiers of a primary category.
As an example, a broad category search could be “pet grooming services in Coeur d’Alene,” and a more specific search could be “mobile grooming services for Australian shepherds in Coeur d’Alene.” A longer question form search could be, “What is typically included in pet grooming services in Coeur d'Alene?”
What to Look For in Search Results
Try to vary your searches quite a bit so you get a broad sense of the different results. Then notice what’s appearing in the AI overview (any competitors mentioned?), who’s showing up on page 1 results, what language is being used, and what kind of content is ranking (Yelp results, blog articles, directory listings, etc.). Also make note of the variations in searches– either in the alternate search ideas that come up in the search bar itself or in the ‘related searches’ section of the SERP (search engine results page). We recommend doing at least 5-10 searches, conducting searches along various lines of business and current distinctives, and keeping track of all that you learn.
A recent client launching a new small consulting business went through this exercise, and learned a really important lesson about ‘niching down’ in their market. They had originally thought they were competing in a very broad category. Once they did this research, they realized that the competitors showing up in these search results were large, national companies focused on selling to Fortune 500 clients. As we built out their brand strategy, the idea of ‘niching down’ continued to come up, helping them refine their target audience and their positioning to ensure they attracted the right clients and weren’t competing with these national players.
Running these searches through multiple search engines, across devices, and in incognito browser windows will unearth lots of great insights. Another client recently discovered one of their competitors was relying on educational seminars as a key part of their marketing strategy, and found inspiration for some blog articles that could fill the whitespace in their market niche.
Use the Data to Build Your Brand Strategy
One of the tools we use with our clients at the conclusion of this portion of our brand strategy work together is a keyword summary table. It helps us build out a robust set of long-tail keyword combinations, using various descriptors and qualifiers of their primary categories. This resource, in addition to all of the search results research and other analysis work, feeds into a final brand positioning summary, and ultimately a complete brand strategy, giving a blueprint for communication about their brand everywhere.
If you’d like help crystallizing your brand strategy, reach out! We’re here to help.
