How is your company’s brand? Could it use some improvements? Unless this is something you’ve already been focusing on, the answer is probably yes. It’s not uncommon for a business to lack a strong brand identity in the first place or for its efforts to establish an identity to sometimes seem contradictory.
The steps below can help you clarify and better present an image to your customers.
Know Yourself
Is your business having an identity crisis? Is it struggling to figure out who it is at all? Or maybe it does have a strong identity, but it’s one that no longer fits or that customers no longer respond to. To figure out who your business is now, you need to think about the demographics of your customers, the industry you’re in and what attributes you want to emphasize.
If you are a financial services company, you might want to project a sense of wealth and security. On the other hand, if you’re a fashion design firm aimed at young people, you might want to come across as trendy. Yet it’s worth looking beyond these expectations as well. How do you set yourself apart from all the other wealthy, secure seeming financial services companies or trendy fashion labels so that potential customers really remember who you are?
Go Green
Going green is a smart branding strategy for many companies. Many customers prefer the idea of shopping with a more sustainable business. There can also be other advantages, including lower costs. This can be the case if you try to have a more sustainable fleet. As part of your brand, you can show a concern for the environment and climate change, while also saving money. Going green can set you apart from your competitors and help attract customers who might not have been interested in your products and services before.
Work with Influencers
Working with influencers on social media can be a powerful way to gain better customer responses and associate yourself with a certain type of image and demographic. There are several different ways you can connect with influencers, including offering them free samples of your product or service in exchange for some publicity. In the best-case scenarios, this kind of marketing can take on a life of its own, with followers of the influencer picking up on your product or service and promoting it themselves.
Have a Strategy
Too often, companies do not think enough about their branding and fail to have a real strategy in place for promoting it. This haphazard approach can make your company seem generic or just confused. Set a schedule and automate social media postings if you need to. Maybe you put up a reel every Monday or daily at noon. A kind of editorial calendar can map out your strategy over the weeks or months ahead so that everyone is on the same page and the message you are sending remains consistent. This strategy also helps ensure that you pull together visuals, including a logo, that effectively convey what you’re all about.
