Why should branding matter in 2019
Many companies were started in an era when branding didn’t exist and the only thing important to the company at that time was beating the dreaded small business curse of failing within the first two 2 years and possibly still succumbing to the death spiral 5 years later when a whopping 50% of the remaining business would shut their doors and become an afterthought
If your own of the lucky few who’ve made it gracefully through those initial years, kudos to you.
But now what!
For the past few years, you’ve been watching as year after year sales growth has been declining, your customer base has slowly been eroding and you can’t figure out a way to stem off the inevitable decline of revenue. But you’ve seen others extol the virtues of great branding and how its done wonders for their business, but you have no clue on where to start
There are some key cornerstones of building a great brand we’ll explore to help your business succeed in 2019.
What does your company stand for?
The heart of branding comes from being true to your core. Are you a great restaurant awesome! But what do you focus on? Are your patrons raving about your food because it’s so good?
Or are you a baby food company that only uses the best organic ingredients and taste test’s your varietals to ensure babies actually like it?
You see, if you’re not focusing on your core and enhancing what your truly good at, you’re already failing on your branding.
Who knows how good you are?
Now let’s assume you’ve tackled the 1st hurdle and your good at your core offering and you have a small band of raving fans. How are you spreading the word?
Have you figured out where your customers hang out? Is it on social media, digital media, a certain part of town? Many people make the mistake here and think that once they join a particular platform such as Facebook or Instagram new customers will be beating down their doors.
But there disappointed when all they hear are crickets. In this new digital era, while it may be easier and cheaper to reach your audience, you still need to first figure out where your audience resides, how to attract their attention and how to keep them engaged after you’ve gotten their attention.
Is your brand memorable?
Now that you’re in the race you need to create a lasting impression. Nobody remembers the brand that’s constantly discounting their prices, but they do remember the brand that they can connect with.
So dig deep and uncover your brand story.
What makes your customers relate to you and want to be a part of your brand story? Is it because you donate profits to a charity? Or maybe its because you only use all-natural ingredients in your recipes? Or is it because your founder created the company to solve a problem, he was passionate about.
Whatever your story is, tell it to the world, so all of your customers are aware, and they can grab onto something more than just your product.
Are your true colors shining through?
Now that you are truly great at something, you have a brand story and customers know about you; how are you reinforcing your brand? Does your branding and your brand colors speak to the values your company portrays?
Is your audience all young modern stay at home mothers, but your brand comes over as stuffy and outdated? Or are you a young an innovative tech startup with a confusing brand message and a complex jigsaw puzzle for a website that many of your customers have trouble navigating.
Taking the time to ensure that all of your touchpoints are refined and optimized to connect with your audience and your branding is fluid across all aspects of your company is important. It not only enhances the customer experience, but reinforces to your customer that this is a brand they would like to continue doing business with in the future.
While branding remains a huge challenge for some organizations to overcome. I suggest tackling it one item at a time and slowly but surely, you’ll begin to reap the benefits of the compound effect.
About the Author : Fabian is a brand strategist with over 20 years of marketing and creative experience working with companies in a variety of industries such as liquor, retail, food, government and finance. His strategy involves learning your business from the inside out and providing a bespoke plan to achieve your designated objectives. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your business grow.
