When you’re a business, you pour a lot of time and money into your brand. This investment should result in an image for your company that tempts customers whenever they see it. They should see your branding and think “this is the right place for me”. Think of it as a signpost, leading your customers home to you.
If you’re investing all this time and money into your brand, it’s important to be sure it is actually working for you. A brand that appeals to the wrong customers is almost as bad as one that doesn’t appeal to anyone at all! If everything about your image suggests that you exactly the right products for people without a big budget to work with, for example, but when they arrive to browse your products they find only expensive prestige options you’re only going to create resentment.
Today we’re taking a look at the different ways you can make sure your brand is working for you.
Research
Before you take action, you need information to base it on. Without data based insight into how your brand is performing, you’re simply making a series of random stabs in the dark.
Working with a market research firm to run brand tracker surveys means you know who you’re appealing to, and why, and can also see how you stack up next to your competitors. If you’re trailing considerably, it’s a sign that something needs to change!
The Complete Brand
One of the most important ways to make your brad work for you is to ensure it’s expressed at every level of your company. A brand is more than simply your posters and logo. Your brand is the total of every interaction customers have with your company – not just when they see your adverts or browse your websites. Your brand is expressed in how your products are arranged when they walk into a shop; the ‘voice’ used to describe your services; how your customer service staff greet people when they pick up the phone.
Try to make sure your brand is being expressed consistently through every level of your company: if your advertising promises one experience but it’s not something you’re prepared to offer for every customer in every way, you’re going to create an experience that ultimately disappoints.
This doesn’t mean necessarily offering the customer everything they want on a plate: a tight refund policy can be part of your brand, as long as it’s tied to promises of quality that you’re confidently able to fulfil.
A broken promise is the worst kind of customer experience so make sure that you can keep the promises your brand makes and it will really start to work for you.