Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does "branding" mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?
Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they will expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors'. Your brand springs from who you're , who you would like to be and who people perceive you to be.
Are you the innovative maverick in your industry? Or the experienced, reliable one? Is your product the high-cost, high-quality option, or the low-cost, high-value option? you cannot be both, and you cannot be all things to all or any people. Who you're should be based to some extent on who your target customers want and wish you to be.
The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and promotional materials--all of which should integrate your logo--communicate your brand.
Brand Strategy & Equity
Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you propose on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is a component of your brand strategy. Your distribution channels also are a part of your brand strategy. And what you communicate visually and verbally are a part of your brand strategy, too.
Consistent, strategic branding results in a robust brand equity, which suggests the added value delivered to your company's products or services that permits you to charge more for your brand than what identical, unbranded products command. the foremost obvious example of this is often Coke vs. a generic soda. Because Coca-Cola has built a strong brand equity, it can charge more for its product--and customers can pay that higher price.
The added value intrinsic to brand equity frequently comes within the sort of perceived quality or emotional attachment. for instance , Nike associates its products with star athletes, hoping customers will transfer their emotional attachment from the athlete to the merchandise . For Nike, it isn't just the shoe's features that sell the shoe.
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Defining Your Brand
Defining your brand is sort of a journey of business self-discovery. It are often difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you simply answer the questions below:
What is your company's mission?
What are the advantages and features of your products or services?
What do your customers and prospects already consider your company?
What qualities does one want them to accompany your company?
Do your research. Learn the requirements , habits and desires of your current and prospective customers. and do not believe what you think that they think. Know what they think.
Because defining your brand and developing a brand strategy are often complex, consider leveraging the expertise of a nonprofit small-business advisory group or alittle Business Development Center .
Once you've defined your brand, how does one get the word out? Here are a couple of simple, time-tested tips:
Get an excellent logo. Place it everywhere.
Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages you would like to speak about your brand? Every employee should remember of your brand attributes.
Integrate your brand. Branding extends to each aspect of your business--how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople decline sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.
Create a "voice" for your company that reflects your brand. This voice should be applied to all or any written language and incorporated within the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.
Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.
Design templates and make brand standards for your marketing materials. Use an equivalent colour scheme , logo placement, look and feel throughout. you do not got to be fancy, just consistent.
Be faithful your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer you to someone else--if you do not deliver on your brand promise.
Be consistent. I placed now last only because it involves all of the above and is that the most vital tip I can offer you . If you cannot do that , your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.
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