You can’t deny the value of branding. It’s apparent that branding influences the vast majority of our purchasing decisions, whether we’re conscious of it or not. It allows target audiences to recognize your business as the market leader amongst your competitors.
Brands also inspire loyalty in customers, helping you to build market share that reflects your business values. Here is what Jeff Bezos, the CEO and founder of Amazon has to say about branding: “Your brand is something that people talk about as soon as you leave the room.”
Once you’re aware of the importance of your brand, you’ll understand that taking your brand from good, to great, is a wise next step in your business’ development.
If you’re looking to take your business to the next step and build a brand like Amazon, here’s my tips for how to get started:
- What’s the Purpose of Your Brand
Question the existence of your business. Why does your business exist in the first place? Why does it matter to others? If you fail to identify these, you’ll leave customers thinking “why should they be doing business with you?” Provide them with solid reasons to use you over your competitors.
- Improve Your Brand Experience
Brand experience is build over a sequence of interactions. As a brand, you should deliver an unforgettable experience every time and should be available as the customer needs you. Position yourself as a thought leader in your industry, lead talks and seminars and associate your business with the industry you work in. This will also allow you to connect with other entrepreneurs and prospects that could be helpful in providing you insights on increasing your brand experience. Actively taking part in influential industry seminars and programs is a great way to be heard and seen in the correct places.
- Try Refreshing Your Brand Identity
Brand identity is your logo, tagline and colours as well as your business name. One easy and quick way to revamp your identity is to revise your written copy. Ensure that the text within your logo is brief with a snappy tagline and name. Any other relevant information like contact details should be kept well away. Great design does not mean it should be complex. Make sure it is easy to be read and understood. Think Nike’s “Just do it” – simple, powerful and to the point.
- Make Your Brand Promise Simpler
A good brand always conveys a guarantee of value but a great brand takes a leap further. It makes that promise simple. Simply, answer this age-old customer question: What’s in it for me? Your brand, product and services have to answer this question and, if you get it right, they’ll keep coming back for more.
- Describe Your Brand Personality in Three Simple Words
Personality is absolutely vital, since it represents the tone and look of your business and brand. For instance, you can explain your brand personality as proactive, smart and friendly. What are three of your most appealing brand traits? Make sure that they reflect who you actually are.
- Prioritise Brand Loyalty
Figure out if your customers are loyal. All assumptions regarding brand loyalty should be driven by data. Repeated purchase behaviour data is a great indicator of your customers’ loyalty. If customers aren’t coming back for more, ask yourself why.
- Is Your Brand Is Really ‘Working’?
Is your brand doing what it was supposed to do? The brand image you create can often be different from what most people perceive. The best way to get this information is asking your customers. Post online surveys on your website to find out: Do target customers connect with your brand? What made them choose you over your competitors? What do they think about your services/ products?
- Aim For Visual Branding
A brand is useless without the visuals. Visual consistency can be the sign of a great brand. There should be some common elements that join things together. If you don’t, people get bored. Remove outdated stock photos and put relevant, fresh graphics – bonus points for those you’ve taken yourself. Always remember that a great brand is a visually appealing brand.
- Re-Examine Your Brand Story
A brand story is your roadmap, your business journey. Great brands always create and share compelling stories. Great storytelling can be hard. Generally, it takes Pixar around 4-6 years to make a single film as they strive to perfect the story they want to tell. Similarly, you should develop a clear vision of how the story of your brand will be told. The essence of having a having a great brand story resides in having a clear singular vision.
Conclusion
Albert Einstein once said that: “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” Never forget to enjoy your brand. You may need to look at multiple areas of your business to improve your brand image and it may take additional funds. Spending money on your brand is a long-term investment that will be lucrative in the long run. Research the many different types of alternate business finance and how each can help give you the financial support you need to bring change to your brand and business. Alternate business finance providers can not only provide you the instant funding but also have low interest rates that can be paid back on more flexible terms than banks.
Use my tips to start working on your brand, but remember, it’s a continual process and to develop a brand that suits your business, you have to constantly work on it.
