Your brand is your strongest asset if you want business growth. Use it right, and your brand can help with lead generation, attracting and retaining customers and driving traffic to your website. It’s why 89% of B2B marketers say driving brand awareness is their most important goal.*
Successful branding yields benefits such as increased customer loyalty, an improved image and a relatable identity.**
So, here are our top ten essential ways to use your brand and grow your business:
1. Develop a brand strategy to save time and money
A brand strategy that focuses on your mission’s goals will help you to hit the ground running with your customers. If your brand messaging is clear and focussed you won’t waste time educating your customers on who you are and what you stand for – your brand will have already done the hard work for you.
You need a laser-like focus to develop a strong brand strategy. Draw up a mission statement and make sure your brand focuses on achieving those goals. When thinking about your brand always remember your mission, too.
2. Put your brand at the centre of all your marketing
This one is simple – branding is all about perception. If you draw on your brand and its values whenever you communicate with your customers, you’ll ensure the you’re seen in the right way.
Take us here at BISON – a key brand value for us is to listen to our customers. So, when we put together a direct mail piece or a blog post like this, we’re communicating information to you that you’ve told us is relevant to you, in this case how to achieve business growth. We hope as a result you’ll find us an easy business to relate to and do business with.
If you have a premium brand positioning don’t undermine this with untargeted discounts. Instead, use your brand to demonstrate how you offer more and justify the premium you charge.
3. Know your customer
How well do you know your target audience? You can ask simple questions such as:
To support this, you can draw up personas, fictitious characters, built on the characteristics of your typical customer. You could also conduct some focus groups to really get to know how they think.
Your branding should be a direct response to your customers’ needs – and can guide you towards certain choices such as whether they expect a corporate, serious brand they can trust, or a more vibrant, fun brand that reflects their desire to take risks.
Doing your homework also means you’ll know how to reach your customers, which will make your marketing efforts yield better results.
4. Consistency, consistency, consistency … you get the message
Integrated, consistent marketing is when branding really starts to make a difference. The average revenue increase attributed to always presenting your brand correctly is 23%.*** That’s why everything you do needs to reflect you and your business.
From your signage to your business cards, stationery, social media and exhibition stands – all should carry the same key messages and consistent identity. Why? Because if all of your marketing activity is hitting customers at every level with the same message and voice it will give you the best chance of cutting through in a noisy marketplace.
5. Make customer service a priority
Perhaps not surprisingly, 48% of consumers expect their brands to know them and help them discover new products or services that meet their needs.****
So why not go that extra mile to delight your customers with shareable experiences. Your work really will speak for itself.
If excellent service is one of your brand’s values then it should shape the culture of your business and filter through to every point of contact with your customers, from your signage to how quickly emails are responded to.
6. Tell your brand’s story
What is your brand’s story? How did your business start out, has it had to overcome any challenges, how has the brand grown and changed to meet changes in the market? Draw on emotions with a relatable, memorable and shareable story which shows your brand’s personality and agility.
Airbnb have used storytelling with imagery, short films from the hosts to position their accommodation as more than simply a room or a house, but as a home.
7. Consider what is driving your business
What does your brand believe in? What is its purpose, and what other brands does it admire? Answering these questions can help establish your brand positioning and inform the identity and voice for brand communications.
8. Be honest
Create trust from the very beginning with brand messages that are open, honest and human – stay true to the values that drive your business.
9. Be innovative and daring
SME brands have a big advantage over larger brands – they can be agile, flexible and quick to respond. So why not make the most of that and be seen as a brand that takes risks and quickly responds to new changes in the market.
10. Reward loyalty
We all know the stat – it costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one – so we also know that it pays to reward loyalty.
If your customers have taken the time to tell you that they love your work, or they show that love by using you again and again, then show your appreciation.
A simple thank you to a brand ambassador can go a long way, but you could send them a special gift, write them a personal letter or remind them how much you appreciate their support and what it has done for your business.
Positive relationships that your customers will talk about are a great way to let potential customers know what they can expect if they do business with you.
So, what’s next?
Why not take a look at our success stories to find out how we’ve helped local businesses take their brands to new heights?
Call Managing Director Mark Bidewell on 01622 677541 or email mark@madebybison.co.uk
Find out more at madebybison.wpengine.com
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