Your brand is how your customers perceive your company and the products and services you offer.
Because your brand shapes consumers’ ideas about your business and what you’re selling, it’s crucial to create a brand identity that is impactful. When developing your brand, you should think long and hard about your company’s purpose, your brand’s promise, and perhaps most importantly, your ideal consumer.
Here are five ways to build a rock-solid brand:
Before you move forward, it’s a good idea to assess your business. What areas are you succeeding in, and what areas have room for improvement? Taking a moment to pause and take stock of your strengths and weaknesses can help you identify areas you and your team need to work on.
It’s also a good idea to look around at the competition. What are they doing? What are their strengths? Finally, get feedback from your customers. You can do this in a number of ways, but social media has become a popular way for businesses to get insights into their customer’s thoughts and preferences.
For instance, you could use Facebook to conduct a customer satisfaction poll or Instagram Stories to ask your customers questions to determine how they see your brand.
Studies, including the fourteenth annual
Accenture Strategy Global Consumer Pulse Research, have shown that the vast majority of consumers prefer to purchase goods and services from brands whose values they share. In fact, out of the 30,000 participants surveyed in the Accenture study, two-thirds said they would rather buy from brands they identify with than those they don’t.
This makes establishing your brand’s purpose more crucial than ever. This is the “why” of your business. Why does it exist? Answering this question will inform every decision you make. Your unique purpose is what makes your business relevant.
Knowing who your ideal customer is a vital part of building your brand. What type of person are you trying to target with your products and services? What problem are your products and services trying to solve? Conduct polls, interact with your customers on social media, and analyze the feedback you get.
You should always think of customers as shareholders in your business, because customers determine whether or not your business is successful. You must get to know your customer base really well so that you can provide them with an experience that impresses them and makes them feel loyal to your brand.
Set both short-term objectives and long-term goals for your business. These will help guide you and your team on the road to success. Short-term objectives are ultimately milestones on the path toward achieving your long-term goals. Your goals may include immeasurable things such as improving your bottom line and or growing brand awareness.
If your long-term goal is to increase your brand awareness, then one of your objectives on the path to that goal could be to grow your social media engagement by a certain percentage each month. Setting goals and objectives can give you and your team clarity about what you want for your business and where your business is headed.
No matter where a customer interacts with your brand, the branding needs to be consistent. Customers may interact with your brand in various places – online, offline, on billboards, on social media. Represent your brand in a way that feels cohesive but never redundant. Customers tend to trust brands that are constant and reliable. Being consistent in the way you represent your brand can go a long way to gaining consumers’ trust and loyalty.
Getting clear on brand identity can be difficult for some businesses to accomplish on their own. If you feel like you may need some extra advice or assistance with this, hiring a qualified professional may be your best choice. Schedule your
free consultation today to find out what EGS Marketing Solutions can do for your business and its brand.