What is Your Secret Sauce?

Every successful business has that one thing that sets them apart from others who also do business in the same marketplace that they do. This can be a tangible product that’s different. It can be the cost of what they offer that sets them apart. It can be the level of service that they provide that is unheard of in their industry. Or it can be the approach they take to how they offer their product. Understanding what makes your company unique is how you determine what your “secret sauce” is. And it is that “secret sauce” that makes you unique, makes you special, and makes you stand out.

AMI’s “secret sauce” is strategy. More specifically marketing strategy. We help our clients not only handle all their marketing for them we first take a step back and look at their company has a whole, what direction they are going, and what is needed to get to that ultimate destination. After that, we build out the elements of what is needed to stay on the right course. Like brand positioning statements, Message Maps, and strategic marketing plans. It is once we have those critical tools in place that we can work to define each individual marketing effort that supports the strategy and stays within the budget. Without the strategy, time and again companies will find themselves drifting off course. I see that strategy as your compass. And it is AMI’s “secret sauce”.

It is during this time of developing strategy that we help our clients determine what their “secret sauce” is. And that becomes woven into everything we do for the client. If your “secret sauce” sets you apart then the last thing you want to do is keep it a secret.

You probably know what your “secret sauce” is and have been using it to describe your company or products for some time. But it is a good idea to get it down on paper and really think of the best way to describe it.

Then your “secret sauce” should become a part of all the strategy elements we have discussed so far.

• In Charting the Course for Your Ultimate Destination we touched on the idea of your “secret sauce” when we talked about determining What Flag You will Fly.
• A big part of that is your Brand Positioning Statement which we went into more detail on in Where Does Your Business Fit? This is how you define what your brand offers that is of unique value when compared to your competition. Do you see it? That’s your “secret sauce”.
• Your “secret sauce” is also a big part of your Personal Brand. In What’s Your Personal Brand? we talked about the importance of defining and being able to communicate your personal brand to others. For many entrepreneurs the “secret sauce” of their company is also their “secret sauce”.
• In Do you Have a Message Map?, we went over all the elements of how to create Message Maps that will give you clearly defined messages to use in everything you do. One of the elements of your Message Map is defining your Base Camp or central story for your company. This is where your “secret sauce” comes in. How do you solve the customer’s problem in a unique way?
• And in Don’t Hold Back Your Social Media we talked about making sure that your social media marketing always comes back to the concern your target audience has, your message on how you address that concern, and what you want them to do. Folks, there is your “secret sauce” again.

As you can see, knowing your “secret sauce” will make everything else you do to plan, position, and market easier, better, and more effective. So, take a few minutes and get your “secret sauce” down on paper. And then start using it and telling people about it. You don’t have to tell people how you make it. Just tell them that you have it.