Your businesses brand is what makes you stand out – this is how you are perceived by your customers as an organisation. When customers get a recognisable feeling from your name, logo, or design, this is your businesses brand, and it is what makes you stand out from competitors. An ideal brand keeps the same tone over the different parts of the business, whether it is customer service, email campaign, website, and all the other aspects of your business. Studies have shown that 58% of consumers are not loyal to a business and will switch at any time, proving that you are constantly in competition to stand out and be the best of your competitors.
Here are some tips to ensure you come out on top.
Know Your Customer
Before you can even think how you will identify as a brand, you need to think about who you are targeting as your potential customer and while you should have an idea of this, you need to have an exact idea of who they are and what their needs and wants are. Without an audience, you are unable to market directly to them and provide a brand which will be most appealing to them.
Knowing the customer’s behaviour and various aspects of their life will help with this. You have to consider things such as age, gender, location, education, career, like and dislikes, and income.
Problem Solving
The reason for any business is to solve a problem. This will be discovered as you identify your customer. You need to think of their pain points, how can you fix it, what can your product or service provide which will help them.
A good way of doing this without sounding pushy is to identify their problems to them directly, making them feel as though you are talking directly to them, then solve their problem with a solution. The solution being your product or service. This will make them resonate with your brand and create a connection where they feel like you are able to solve their pains.
Reward Customer Loyalty
Keeping consumers loyal, especially when they have been loyal to your brand for a long period of time can be tricky. And many businesses will question why they should reward customers who are already spending money with them, but as 75% of consumers said they choose companies that offer rewards over those that don’t, it is understandable why they should. It saves you money in marketing, while promoting good word-of-mouth, therefor encouraging more business as you are standing out from competitors.
Excellent Customer Service
Customer service has a major impact on your businesses brand. Unless you have loyal customers, who are willing to look past it, it is not uncommon for a customer to take their business to a competitor after a single bad experience. This shows that your focus is always on the customer, new or existing, as they are the ones who keep your business afloat.
Businesses need to think about addressing issues and problem solving when customer service is in question. Many ignored negative reviews can be the reason for a brand to lose customers rapidly. This can also be the reason for preventing new customers as many people will purchase a product or service based on other experiences.
Branding That Stands Out
Branding that stands out is extremely significant, it will be all over your business’s social media platforms, over any marketing, your website, anything you can think of to do with your business, it will be there.
One of the most important aspects of building a business is creating your brand, you need to get it right as first impressions will make or break it. Consumers will decide if your brand is the one for them based purely on judgement of how it looks on the outside, without regards to what you are selling.
Think of some major retailers, how they use colour to differentiate themselves from competitors, to make sure they stand out among a crowd. Even in the form of letters, some brands such as Sky and Virgin Media use custom envelopes to stand out, so you know it’s from them before you even open it. As long as you have an idea of how you want your brand to look to consumers, considering font, colour, and imagery, you could create your own custom envelopes. Check out the selection of options from Lob to find the right option for your next direct mail campaign.
Increase Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is almost as important as the brand itself; you want to stand out from the competition, you want your products or services to come to mind first. There is so many different ways you can do this.
For larger companies, you have to think more globally, what is going on in the world which you can support or donate towards. Just having some good press or social media interaction from your doings can be good for brand awareness. But on a smaller scale, you need to look into every possibility, think of local charities or events which are upcoming, is there something you can do show your support while promoting your business? The opportunity for free press could arise at any time, this can often be the best way to get your name and logo out there.
Build A Strong Online Presence
81% of consumers search online to find a product or service before looking elsewhere. This intensifies the importance of building a strong online presence, it is practically essential to the success of your business. But while building your online presence, there is different aspects to consider.
Social media and SEO are the two most important factors concerning a strong online presence. They ensure your business is found through interactions and online content. SEO meaning Search Engine Optimisation works by taking online content and optimising it so search engines show it towards the top of the page. In other words, if your business is linked in online content, it may appear in a search when someone is searching for a specific product or service in Google.
Also Read: What Businesses Can Learn From The Entertainment World
