A brand is not a tangible object that you can hold in your hands. A company like Google, which is currently worth a staggering $286 billion, attributes its success to strong branding. If you were to define branding in the simplest terms possible, it’s that emotional connection that a consumer will have to a brand.
Research indicates that 45% of people will stop following a brand if it concentrates on talking about its products only. Another 73% say customer service is the main reason why the fall in love with a particular brand. Branding is, therefore, very important for any business.
Strong Branding in the Digital Age
The digital platform has given rise to so many opportunities for businesses to engage with consumers. It’s, therefore essential that a company knows how to brand on this platform. A proper brand strategy should guide all your brand building activities to ensure that your communication remains compelling and effective.
A brand has many facets to it, including the visual and verbal identity, the tone of voice, and the mission statement or philosophy.
Why Branding Is Important
Branding is important for several reasons including:-
• Branding will help identify and distinguish your company and products from others.
• It’ll determine how people view your company
• It increases the value of a business because people want to deal with a strong company
• The public will trust a company that has taken the time to establish its credibility
• customers will remain loyal to a strong brand due to the emotional connection with the company
• It is important for employee satisfaction and pride
• Branding and marketing are intertwined and work hand-in-hand to increase company awareness
Top Branding Secrets in the Digital Age
Use of digital media can be a boon for business. You reach a wide audience, and you have so many tools you can use to generate awareness for your company.
There are several advantages of branding but you will need to know how to do it right. Let us look into five ideas which will help with branding your company online and offline.
1. Understand Your Audience
Understanding your audience is the most fundamental step when it comes to marketing and branding. Take your time to understand who you’re talking to. Come up with a complete profile of your target.
Take consideration of factors such as education, income levels, age, sex, marital status, among others. You also need to pay close attention to their purchasing behavior and any other interests they may have.
Go a step farther by putting people who fit your profile into a room and talk to them. Focus groups will help you understand how your brand can respond to their needs.
2. Be Clear About Your Brand Values
Look at the leading brands in the market, and you will realize that they all have very clear mission statements. These values form a major part of how they run their businesses and how they communicate with their customers. You can’t start the process of brand-building without a philosophy or guiding statement.
3. A Strong Brand Narrative is Important
Building a strong brand narrative requires that you have a proper understanding of what your consumer is looking for. How does your product benefit the customer, and what makes you unique. If for example, your company deals in luxury items, understanding why an individual will spend large amounts of money on such items is important.
It’ll require that you take into consideration factors such as image, impact, social status, personal life, among others. Now look for a way to tie in that understanding of the consumer into your brand. Whatever communication You send out after that should resonate with your customers so that they connect with it.
4. Have a Personality
Think about your brand as you would a human being. A person with a great personality is likely to have a lot of friends. People will respond well to a brand that has an identity, and one which will help elevate the individual’s status in society.
People know the Mercedes for its elegance and durability. The Ferrari and Lamborghini are a sign of wealth and an aspect of risk-taking. Dove is known for purity, Harley-Davidson motorbikes for rebels among others.
5. Get the Right Branding Support
There are certain aspects you need to consider when working on your branding. These include getting the right name, logo, slogan, among others.
The right brand name will help differentiate you from the competitors. Strong brands have strong names, but get a name that has meaning. Try not to localize it too much in case you scale your business.
Also, consider your target when picking a name, if you’re selling kids products; make the name child-friendly so that it resonates well with the target group
Generating the right slogan is equally important. You will find many online tools to help generate multiple slogans for you. Slogan generating will only be possible if you have a proper understanding of your brand values. Also factor in what makes your product unique. A great slogan is memorable, emotional, states the promise, among others.
The right logo will become the symbol by which people identify your company. Think about the Nike swoosh, Apple logo, Toyota, Mercedes, among others. Even without the brand name next to it, you can identify these companies easily due to the well thought out product branding.
Elevate Your Company Through Proper Branding
We have shared with you invaluable tips on how to build a brand. Strong branding will require that you follow some of the steps we have highlighted above so that you can achieve your goals easily. The things you need to keep in mind are the target market, what makes you unique, what are your values, does your business have a personality, and does it have a good name and logo.
Invest in proper research on your industry. You also need to keep a pulse on what your competitors are doing. They are a great source of information on what to do and what not to do.
Take advantage of the tools and resources available on the online platform. You can also bookmark our website for great tips on how to grow your business.
