4 Key Points to Branding
Branding is more than a logo and image or even a recognized name. It’s a person’s collective experience with a company’s product or service. A brand is a person’s overall perception of a company or product built over time. While it includes your colors, logo, feel and flow; your brand is you, the leader of the company; and the company, it’s culture and energy.
I’ve learned from numerous brand specialists and experts over the years. Branding is also something that evolves as your business evolves. There is a theme as to what makes up your brand and there are consistently four (4) things that these experts say we must bear in mind. Through my own experiences, I whole-heartedly agree.
Here are the four things you should keep in mind as you build your company’s brand:
1] Own your “ONE Significant THING”: Don’t try to be all things to all people. Spend your time focusing on a single clear message. Mercedes-Benz owns “Engineering “ in the car industry because it’s focused on that singular message for decades.
Brainstorm ideas to come up with your “One Significant Thing” and have it show up in all of your messaging and marketing. Everything else that you do will undoubtedly fall under this one thing, so you don’t be concerned about being broad. Find it and own it.
Own your “ONE Significant THING”: Don’t try to be all things to all people. Spend your time focusing on a single clear message. -V. Lynn Hawkins
2] Consistency is key: consistent presentation will ensure that your customers recognize you. Be consistent in the use of logos, taglines, visual elements, tone, and ad copy. Nike is one of the most recognized brands in the world because they haven’t changed in decades. It’s ‘Swoosh’ or the Swoosh Logo.
Make sure your brochures, website, Direct mail, and all the other advertising have the same look, feel and message.
3] Make your message relevant: know your audience, know what they care about and how to speak to them. Make sure what you sell is what they need, and more than that, what they want (think they need). Remember the conversation should always be about your audience, not you.
4] Use a strong offer to motivate: you want your audience to remember you and you want its members to buy from you. You need to move them to action. A strong offer should give them a reason to buy. Make the offer clear and appropriate for your brand.
Every time a customer comes in contact with your brand, they will have either a positive or a negative experience. Those experiences will add to their perception of your brand. Those experiences are recalled later when it’s time to make a purchasing decision.
How do you want your brand to be remembered when the time comes for a prospect to buy? You need to start building that positive perception today and do whatever is necessary to maintain it.
In conclusion, there is one last aspect of branding that I want to touch on because it is in many instances a make or break the deal type of element. It is photos and video. We have reached the point in this digital age that requires business owners to be visible. People want to know the face of the leadership of companies and organizations. They want to hear from those in the leadership positions speaking on video about the values, culture and direction of the company; your company, and the experience you want to deliver to them.
Plan your strategy for photo and video visibility and begin with your website. Add where appropriate and believe it or not, the more the better. Again, strategic placement will create an advantage for you. The match creating visibility in your marketing materials, will create an even greater opportunity for sales.
Whether you’re planning a marketing campaign for your product or service, or planning a pitch, remember, strategy and implementation cause the business wheel to turn.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lynn Hawkins is a certified business acceleration coach, consultant and small business funding strategist, specializing in helping entrepreneurs with online marketing to grow business and revenue. As CEO/Founder of the P3 Academy of Social Entrepreneurship, she coaches her signature 5 Tiers of Accelerated Business Development, courses and programs her audience is asking for. Lynn teaches how to raise capital using crowdfunding and is host of the Crowdfunding Hacker Show. She is an author, speaker and an advocate for growing women entrepreneurs and their businesses and is often caught saying “when you earn more revenue, you can do more good in the world”. She believes in creating a living legacy through your work. Her “Goddesspreneur DIAMOND Mastermind” and “Women Empowering Women” live events help women express their vision, vibe, voice, and visibility to live victorious legacy lives, creating and growing legacy businesses.
Keywords:
Business, business building, strategic planning, P3 Academy SE, content marketing, story, story leverage, docubranding, Branding, brand marketing,
