5 rules for a great brand
By Publicity Heaven writer Adam Constable
Establishing your business brand can be easier than you may think. A strong brand will make your business stand out from the competition, and help you develop a business that will one day be sellable.
By creating an established brand, you can build a reputation on a valuable asset. Research reveals that for every £100 a business spends on branding, it can increase turnover by £225.
So here are 5 rules to create an effective brand presence:
Establish values that you, your staff and your target customer believe in: What do you do or sell? What makes your product or service desirable? What is unique about your business? How would you like to be perceived? What does your target customer need?
Build your business values and personality around these, adopting a strategy from your target consumer and employee viewpoints. It is important that everyone believes in what your brand stands for. A successful brand is marketed well by your employees if their views are consistent with your brand values and message.
A successful brand will also make an emotional connection with the consumer, ensuring they become loyal to your brand. It is these people who make your brand sustainable, so court them and keep them.
Stand out from the competition: The customer likes to believe they have formed their own judgement about you. You can strongly influence this, so you must shape what your brand means to the consumer. Stand out from your competitors by offering something that nobody else does – or do it better than they do.
Be sure to highlight the excellent and unique benefits and advantages of your product or service. By standing out from the competition you can immediately create brand awareness, and the target consumer will form an opinion based on what you tell them is so great and different about your brand and delivery.
Make your Message Obvious: An unclear and inconsistent message will lead to confusion about your brand. By communicating a strong consistent message of what you do and the way you do it, your target customer will understand what is unique about your brand and connect to you. Therefore it is vital that your brand message is reinforced throughout your business by developing an experience.
Every aspect of your business must make the customer feel the same way about you. If your message is that you care about your customers, then you must build a relationship with the customer. Ensure that your employees do everything they can to help with the customers’ needs. For example, keep in contact with the customer offering after sales services should they require them. Be consistent with your message and the customer will recognise this.
Meet and exceed your promises: Your message is out, you have made a connection with the target consumer, and you have probably promised them something in order to catch their attention or make your business stand out from the competition. If you fail to meet your promises just once, then your business and brand reputation could suffer damaging consequences. Therefore, to become an established brand you must fulfil your promises to the customer. If you promise fast delivery of your product or a one-to-one personal service, then do it! Once you have made a promise, the consumer will expect it time and time again, and when you deliver every time then they will become loyal to your brand. If you don’t, they won’t.
Build on your recognition: A cohesive and coordinated approach to establishing your brand presence will achieve more recognition as your target audience becomes increasingly exposed to your brand. If customers haven’t recognised your brand, then you have not made yourself stand out from the competition. But if they do recognise your brand, then there is something different about your brand offers that they are connecting to. Continue to highlight your differences and advantages which are unique to your customers’ needs in everything you do. Make your branding prominent by splashing your company logo and slogan on all interaction with the consumer to imprint your business on their minds. This will help create a brand loyalty as you continue to make your brand recognisable and deliver on your promises.
Establishing a recognised brand does not have to be costly. A well designed brand identity can be created using the resources you already have: Use your staff, your website, and your existing customers effectively and always include your logo, slogan and your USP (Unique Selling Proposition, or Point) every time you interact with customers.
Remember that a brand extends beyond just your logo. Everything that your business does will contribute to how your brand is perceived.
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