‘Rome was not built in a day‘ as cliché it may sound, it is true.
Just like planting a tree, growing your brand takes time, and one has to be patient to reap its benefits. Branding doesn’t only mean the ‘Image’ but also how the customers interact with your products and services.
What makes a product or service distinctive is how the customers feel when buying or paying for the services your company provides.
Building your brand could seem like a daunting task. One of the main things to keep in mind is that however tiresome and monotonous the initial stages of planning your brand strategy may seem, it works if you are consistently delivering value to your customers.
A strategic approach towards establishing your brand and standing out as a ‘go-to’ brand is essential. There is no rule book or strategies to enhance your brand’s presence in the market, but here are a few steps that will ensure you have a solid foundation to work on.
Top 10 Brand Building Guidelines
1. Get to Know Your Audience
Every customer is an individual with a unique buyer persona. Knowing your customers’ requirements, goals, habits, and problems can offer invaluable insights. You can build an efficient marketing strategy with this information to positively impact your business’ growth. You would want your products to appeal to the audience and to reciprocate their trust in your brand.
2. Tell Your Story
Simon Sinek, an author, and motivational speaker, describes the perspective of the influence of successful organisations, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”.
Try starting with why you do what you do. People like to attach themselves to the greater good, and you can offer that outlet through your brand. Let’s say if your company contributes to the environment in any way, make sure you start with that. Distinguish your brand from the crowd by marketing your story.
3. Know Your Competition
For you to stand out from the crowd, you’d need to understand the crowd first. Market Research is a must. Being familiar with what resonates with your target audience would give you a little head start.
4. Set Standards for Your Brand
If you think of the most iconic brands of our times, you’ll see how they kept it simple. Talk about their appearance, designs, logo, or even the packaging of the product. They are simple because they are memorable. Memories that are imprinted in your customer’s unconscious mind can go a long way.
According to the Wright Institute of Child Psychology, by the time a child is three years old, they can recognize up to 100 logos. Now, all you have to make sure is that your brand’s logo is one of them.
5. Reward the Allegiance
Who doesn’t like being rewarded? Rewarding your loyal customers could help in retaining them. Customer retention can be one of the most challenging and important aspects of your business. Even 5% of the customers your company retains can raise your brand’s profit up to 95%, according to research from Harvard Business School.
6. Indulgence from the Customers
Keeping your customers in the loop with the development of your company plans and vision can be constructive. Taking in their feedback and acting on them will create trust amongst your audience and gain their respect which is invaluable for business growth.
7. Social Media Presence
There is no denying that social media is one of the most crucial marketing platforms in this age and time. Your brand must have a presence digitally. There are a plethora of applications to help you reach your target audience. There are organic and paid ways to ascertain a dominant presence online.
8. Focus on What’s Driving your Business
Every business, big or small, has multiple products or services to offer. If not that, there must be multiple ways in which your company offers the goods. Always keep a track of your own products and services to know which are performing better and which have the potential to perform better.
9. Customer Service
This is perhaps the most important aspect of your brand strategy. The consumer has bought your product or subscribed to a service; now it is time to keep up with the promises offered. To provide assistance and support in every way possible to soothe their experience with your brand. Create an environment where the customer feels comfortable communicating. A positive holistic customer experience can help your business thrive.
10. Give Back to The Community
Actively engage in community services. Embracing the local communities can help build trust and a positive image. Giving back to the community creates a solid corporate social responsibility (CSR) repertoire. It also improves your employees’ morale and fosters pride within the organization. This leads to employees sticking with your organization for a longer period of time, resulting in stability to the company’s future.
If we could, we all would want an impeccable golden rule to build our brand. It’s beneficial to realise there isn’t one. Building a brand would require a combination of all the things mentioned above, it is up to you to try and see what resonates with your customers and how well they react to it. So instead of aiming to build a brand, try to build relationships with your audience first. It might be the foundation of something special.
