To stand out in a crowded marketplace you need to think carefully about your brand, and how you want to be perceived. Your branding is what makes you unique, developing a strong brand can help you to improve your reputation and your ROI. To build a stronger brand this year, here are five key focuses.
1. Take a Stand
According to Sprout Social, ‘Seventy percent of consumers say it’s important for brands to take a stand on social and political issues.’ What’s more, ‘67% of consumers say brands are effective at raising awareness around important public issues when they speak out on social media.’
To strengthen your brand in 2021, think about how you can improve your CSR strategies. You might focus on the environment, social causes or politics. You might partner with charities on unique campaigns? Perhaps you’d like to re-think the raw materials you use to make your products? Whatever steps you take, consumers want brands to stand up for what they believe in.
2. Humanize Your Brand
The biggest branding mistake you can make is failing to humanize your brand. There are lots of ways that you can humanize your brand, including:
⦁ Use your social media and website to introduce your employees.
⦁ Be as authentic as possible, use true stories about your brand, to build a relationship with your audience.
⦁ Become a thought leader in your sector.
⦁ Use UGC to engage your audience and drive awareness.
3. Tell a Story
When you create a brand story, the idea is to communicate the ‘why’ behind your business. Think about why you started your business, and what you are looking to achieve. When creating your brand story it’s important to put your customer at the center. These considerations may be helpful to craft your brand story:
⦁ Your brand story should involve success as well as a problem and a solution.
⦁ The story should focus on why you created your business.
⦁ Your story should be built around the values of your customer.
4. Improve Your Target Audience Research
Your brand needs to be created based on the values and beliefs of your consumers. With this in mind, you should focus on improving your target audience research. You’ll need to perform lots of research, and develop detailed buyer personas.
A buyer persona is a profile which describes your ideal target customer. These personas are based on your customer demographics. Buyer personas also include info about how the customer makes decisions, and which sort of challenges they come up against.
5. Work with Influencers
By working with the right influencers you can boost the profile of your brand, and drive awareness. Influencers can design unique content that creates a buzz around your brand. So many consumers use ad blocking software, which makes it hard to promote yourself using traditional ads. With the help of influencers, businesses can market themselves and improve engagement.
Create the Right Impression
When you’re creating your brand, you’ll need to think carefully about your company image. Everything you do creates an impression on your customers and clients. To uphold a professional brand image, ensure that your commercial building is taken care of. The interior of your building should be beautifully decorated, while the exterior should be well kept. If you have cracked or worn paving it’s best to hire a Commercial Paving Contractor. Everything contributes to how you are perceived, from your persona to your premises.
