An effective branding strategy is something that’s difficult to get right, and it requires a lot of planning. You need to thoroughly understand your business and your client base before coming to decisions because without a brand strategy that works, it’s very easy for your business to get lost amongst the competition.
Ultimately, you want your brand to stand out, and you want potential customers to be able to associate your brand with a need, so whenever they have that need, they’ll come to you. Having a good brand identity can make your business, so with that in mind, we’ve put together a few brand strategies that you’ll need to avoid if you want to succeed in having a brand that evokes a positive reaction amongst consumers.
The customer is king
We all know that in order to have a successful company, you’re going to have to keep the customer happy. Customer service is vital, but when it comes to having a brand that stands out, you can afford to put your focus elsewhere other than the customer. If you think about most industries, you’ll discover company after company all trying to provide the customer with exactly what they require. So, if you want to stand out from your competitors, rather than just research the need, research your competitors and seek out a way to separate yourself from the pack.
In our experience of brand marketing, we’ve found that you can generally find a niche aspect, and finding that niche could be your key to building a successful brand. Once you’ve identified a way to present yourself in a unique way, you’ll be able to focus on aspects of your business directly, and as a result, you should find yourself an audience that’s more dedicated and committed to your brand.
The visuals aren’t important
Despite the visuals being the first aspect of your business that many people will see, plenty of businesses don’t put enough focus on their appearance. Having a strong visual gives clients and potential clients a reference point, and makes it easier for you stay in their mind. Sometimes this can be as simple as changing your font or colour scheme; in some cases, a visual overhaul might be in order including a logo redesign. Once your new visual direction has been decided, it’s absolutely vital that you use it consistently across your entire business. That includes all social media accounts, your brochures, the company website and even email signatures.
Customers need to be able to easily recognize your brand, and once you’ve put the visuals in place, you’ll have the foundations in place to build a brand identity that could help your business grow.
Branding equals communications
We all know that good branding includes communications, but if your branding strategy focuses wholly on messaging and advertising, with no focus on the people or your overall business strategy, then it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to deliver on any of your communications. If you know a weakness of your company is customer service, then simply telling your audience that it’s fantastic is only going to drive customers away.
However, if you invest in training in order to improve your customer service, you’ll be able to market the fact that you’re putting money into making your customer service more satisfactory for customers. In the digital age, customers’ expectations are higher, and they can tell if they’re being patronised by a company’s communications. With that in mind, it’s absolutely vital that you don’t focus wholly on your communications. Instead, focus on other areas of your business that can make your communications more accurate and you’ll soon have a trusted brand identity.
At Bob, we have a wealth of experience in helping businesses build their brand, so if you want to help raise the profile of your company by putting an effective brand strategy in place, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.