Contributed article in our business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly
A company’s brand is its unique selling point. If you fail to create a strong image, you may struggle to survive in a competitive market. A solid brand will not only capture a potential customer’s attention, but it will ensure you appear professional and trustworthy, because you have taken the time to refine your image.
Create a Key Message
Your brand is your voice, so you must identify what valuable things you need to say to the customer. To set yourself apart from other businesses, it is vital to create a key message that covers a company’s unique selling points.
What would make a person want to choose you over a competitor? Is it a low-price product? Quick delivery? Homemade item? Quality service? Sell your service to a potential customer or they will not want to buy it. It is that simple.
The Right Tone
Some companies often underestimate the importance of tone. Too many businesses fall into the habit of developing social media campaigns, website blogs or brochures that all have a conflicting tone of voice. One minute they can be over-the-top friendly and the next they are terribly formal. Not only is this confusing to the reader, but it will appear unprofessional and will weaken your branding. Create a personality that reflects your product, industry and gap in the market. For example, if you run an accountancy firm, you would probably shy away from an informal tone to maintain professionalism and trustworthiness.
Innocent Smoothies is a great example of a strong brand, because they offer a fun and quirky tone of voice that helps to set them apart in the drinks industry. Their copy is both colourful and friendly, which complements their graphic design, website and logo. The brand’s personality will influence every decision the company makes, and not the other way around – so ask yourself who your company is. If you don’t know, it is time to find out.
Use Your Experience
Your brand identity will more than likely change over the years. For example, when you are just starting out, you will base your business on your product and voice alone. However, as your brand develops, you will become a more established leader in your market, because you have the experience to back-up your service – which you should incorporate into your brand. One example is Commercial Ice Makers, who has 32 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, which reflects their value-for-money service, and they are proud to display this fact on their website, because it is a signal of their reliability.
Be Helpful
One of the most effective things you can do to strengthen a brand is to simply become more helpful. The more time you spend engaging with customers, developing helpful guides and following up on complaints, the more reliable and caring you will appear, which will help your business build a great relationship with the customer.
Never underestimate the power of word of mouth, because people are more than happy to recommend a company if they have received a flawless service. So, reply to every social media comment, follow up on each email, answer every phone call and create informative, helpful content that allows your company to grow from strength to strength.
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