Three Pillars of Branding You Can't Afford to Miss.
Building your brand is the single most important aspect of starting a business. Your brand will be the face of your company and will either communicate positive or negative messages to your customers.
Far too often, I’ll see a business fail that didn’t build their brand before they launched their product or service. It’s important to have a brand that your customers can associate with the products or services they are investing in. Here are the three brand pillars that you can’t afford to miss.
1 — Brand Strategy
Marketing – A business idea means nothing if nobody knows about it, which is where marketing comes in. I heard someone once say that a business idea without marketing is like waving at someone in the dark, you know what you are doing, but nobody else does! Marketing is promoting your product or service through market research and advertising to drive sales. In other words, marketing has less to do with the actual sales and is directed more at creating a demand for your product or service.
Target Your Audience – Who is your target audience and what will you say to them? Chances are you already know who your target audience is, or maybe you need to do a little research. But when you find out who they are, the message sent needs to resonate. Structuring the message behind your brand is important for brand development. Don’t confuse your audience, connect with them.
Message Delivery – Once you know who your target audience is, what platforms will you use to connect with them? If your audience is 65+ then Instagram is probably a waste of time. If you have a younger target audience of 18-35, then social media could be your best friend. This may take some media testing and tweaking. If you track how you are driving business, then go with what works and drop other methods that are wasting your time and money.
Product Distribution – How will you distribute your product or service? Will you sell a product on your own e-commerce website, Amazon.com, Etsy.com, in a physical storefront or the farmers market? Perhaps all of the above. Once you’ve sent your message to your target audience, will they know how to take the next steps? Walk them through the process, make your product easy to buy. Always, always, always have a website and either sell online or point them in the right direction so you can make a sale. Nobody wants to setup an appointment to view products, they want to browse at their leisure or walk into a storefront. If you sell a service, make it easy to view your services online and easy for them to connect with you, either by phone or email.
Customer Service – Your brand speaks even after the sale. Make it easy as pie for your customers to connect with you, make a sale, payment, return or other need. The customer is always right, the customer is always right, the customer is always right – say it with me now!
Public Relations – Your product should be accurately advertised, making your customers happy. However, there will always be a time when a product arrives damaged, or defective, or is missing all together. It happens to the best of us. This is the moment to shine in public relations (PR). Make it easy for a customer to reach either you or a representative, then apologize for any inconvenience, and finally, fix the problem immediately.
I once bought two dining chairs online that arrived with uneven legs – but I had already taken them out of the box and assembled them. I tried to fix and readjust the wobbly legs, and after some yelling and frustration, I called it quits. I called the company and explained the situation and they immediately apologized, refunded me, and then asked me to please dispose or donate the chairs, as they didn’t want to pay to ship the defective chairs back and would not resell them anyways. That made my day because I was dreading having to take them apart and attempt to fit them back into the puzzle piece packaging they came in. Even though the product that arrived was less than satisfactory, I will continue to shop there because their brand voice and customer service made up for what didn’t work out with my order.
SIDE NOTE: Customer service only works if the defects are occasional. Eventually a bad product catches up with you and your brand is labeled as cheap and not worth the effort of a purchase.
2 — Look/Feel
Logo – Your logo is your mark, your brand stamp on your product or service. Look at your logo as the cover of your book. If your clients recognize your logo and have positive experiences with your brand, then they will trust what is inside the book. Learn more about the Traits of a good logo.
Visuals – The overall look and feel of your brand includes more than just a logo, it’s the overall mood, imagery, fonts and colors that make up your brand visuals. What type of photography or illustration will be used to define your brand? Developing a brand guide will keep your brand consistent and build brand recognition.
Marketing – Your marketing should also have an overall look and feel that is defined by your brand. If you were to create a mood board, all your marketing collateral should look like it is part of the same narrative. Your marketing look and feel can also be included in your brand guide.
Print, Web and Social Media – As mentioned above, your brand should extend to all your marketing materials whether it be print, web or social media. Your graphic designer can create a brand guide for implementing your brand. Make sure that everything that is representing your business looks like it belongs to the same brand. More than 65% of the population are visual learners, meaning they learn and remember best through visual communication. A consistent visual narrative will allow your customers to connect with your brand, and better yet, remember it.
3 — Values
Vision – What is the idea behind your brand? It’s best to write down why you started your business and what you hope to accomplish. You should have a vision for your business, know why you are different from your competitors, how you will resonate with your customers, and how you plan to grow in the future. This is nice to refer to when you need to be re-energized, or if you need to present to investors to promote growth.
Mission Statement – In one sentence, sum up your company values and purpose. In other words, what does your company do and why? Be inspirational.
Culture – What is the personality of your company? Define the company environment, expectations, values and goals.
Trust – How will you develop trust with your clients? What is your plan? Trust is the number one reason you will have returning customers. Do you have a quality product? Is your customer service accessible and friendly? Do you solve your customer issues quickly? Develop trust and you will have a lifelong relationship with your customers.
Quality – What is your plan for quality control? How will you make sure your product is good and continues to be good? If you provide a service, what makes your services better than your competitors? Do you provide a warranty or guarantee? Think through the quality of your product or service and how you will maintain those levels of superiority – that is how you will continue to gain trust from your customers.
Voice – Your brand voice is the expression of your brand through words, which will ultimately become your brand personality. It should resonate with your target audience, so be consistent and authentic. Learn more - What does your brand say?
“A product is something that is made in a factory, a brand is something that is bought by a customer. A product can be copied by a competitor, a brand is unique. A product can be quickly outdated, a successful brand is timeless.”
If you are starting a new business, or have already gotten your feet wet, these brand pillars should be addressed. It isn’t too late to take a step back and realign your brand strategy, visuals and values. This might seem overwhelming, and if it is, hire a professional to bring these key brands supports together to form a brand your customers can trust.
A well executed brand creates loyalty. People are loyal to brands. Build a relationship and create an emotional connection to your brand. This will motivate customers to buy more products.