Developing a brand means understanding your mission and vision and doing some self-analysis to see how you are perceived by the world. Once you have identified how you want to be branded, then you need to take steps to create that brand. Understand the essence of your brand and make sure your employees constantly communicate that to your customers/clients.
• Design to grow. Approach branding with an initial strategic plan and market research so that branding efforts will not only gain your organisation recognition, but also allow it to grow and adapt in the marketplace.
• Own a look – Use distinctive art and colours that look hypnotic as well as makes its mark.
• Develop an identity through building & developing trust. Everything must work together to support the brand. It is embodied in everything your company stands for. Be strategic about it and know what you are trying to accomplish. As people are becoming more wary about using new businesses, try to introduce trust to your business. A key way of doing this is to make your business more approachable, being more open with prospects about your business. Also try adding testimonials to any marketing. People trust other client’s opinions; this will go a long way.
• Keep Communicating! – You need to keep your brand in front of clients' and prospects’ faces at all times. If your competition thinks like you, they will be almost certainly be doing likewise. The same principle applies to your other marketing activities. Try sending out regular updates on your products and services via email or direct marketing and this will compliment your initial awareness campaign.
• Build customer loyalty – If your business has a large client base, or even a small client base; why not reward their loyalty. Provide discount vouchers and promotional codes for just being a customer, as this show appreciation and builds loyalty.
• Special Offers – If possible, try to introduce special offers to entice in new customers. Everyone loves a deal. Keep these deals fresh and rotate them to keep interest. If people are looking for the best deal, you'll be best positioned to be able to provide it.
• Exemplary Customer Service – In tough economic times, aim to provide your customers with the very best advice and service. Sometimes you might have to go out your way to win that client. But going the 'extra mile' will be worth it in the end.
• Don’t follow your competition – If your competition begins reigning in their marketing spend, that is your opportunity to capitalise on any customer enquiries they would have received and gain an advantage. It’s those that lead not follow who make progress!
• Be Consistent – Do not begin pulling advertisements and marketing spend, since if you stop this, how is anyone going to notice your business? And on the other hand, your competitors might be just as likely to capitalise on the enquiries you would have received had you continued marketing.
• Don’t Be Static – Try not to be complacent, keep your marketing fresh and rotate adverts to entice your prospects.
Remember that a brand is not just a static design. It must represent not only your organisation's current image, but also new products and services that may be added in the future and a marketplace that continues to evolve. It must serve as a long-term foundation and this includes not only meeting today's needs but also prepare for tomorrow's opportunities and challenges.This means understanding your company's added value points and what differentiates it from the competition. So for example, if your company works in a niche and has some new products that were to make a big difference in the situations of potential customers, your branding campaign could be based around, being “the future of digital imaging technology" and possibly providing an informational e-newsletter.
