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Building a Successful Brand Using a ‘Dominant Selling Idea’ (DSI)

According to the award-winning marketing book, “Why Johnny Can’t Brand” by Bill Schley and Carl Nichols Jr, you need to have a ‘Dominant Selling Idea’ or ‘DSI’ to be able to differentiate your brand. 

Your DSI is the ‘motivating difference’ that will tip the scale in your favor when it comes time for your potential clients to pick the financial advisor practice that’s best for them.

In other words, what does your company do better than anyone else? What aspect of your business makes you the best in the field? And how can you get people to associate your brand with your DSI?

If a business does not know exactly what it does, neither will its potential customers. A Dominant Selling Idea must be spelled out in crystal clarity. It should also be completely obvious to anyone who sees it.

According to the book, your DSI should have the following qualities:

  • Superlative – being the best in its class in something 
  • Important – offer something really valuable. Is it valuable to your target market?
  • Believable – your brand story should be logical and should give you credibility
  • Memorable – leave people with something to think about in the future 
  • Tangible – your claims should be realistic. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.

In order for your DSI to stand out in your marketing, the following elements have to work together effectively: 

      • Your brand name
      • Visuals
      • A tagline
      • A realistic offer that your audience won’t be able to refuse

All these together give people a complete picture that will stick in their minds and will remember in the future. It creates an image of what they can expect from your firm and proof that you can deliver on your promises. 

To make sure your DSI is effective it should also be the driving force behind everything your company does and should dictate aspects such as:

      • Marketing and branding 
      • Customer interactions
      • Policies and procedure

If you want to find more about how developing your practice’s DSI can improve your lead generation and conversion rates, send us a message through the contact form below. Here at AltaStreet, we’ve helped hundreds of financial advisors over the past 20 years grow their brands using our proven digital marketing and branding techniques.

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