Your brand, and company’s trademark, is how a potential client recognizes and develops an emotional understanding of what your company is. It helps customers decide things for themselves; things like your company’s positioning, how you manage customer interactions and operations, and what your company has to offer.
The stronger a company’s brand, the stronger their fan base becomes. This isn’t just about buying a company’s services or products, but about passionately recommending your company to many other potential buyers, as word of mouth is one of the best forms of influencing a buyer’s decision. Good branding and a strong reputation provide you and your company with valuable advertising and testimonials, as well as many other potentials clients.
It is important to realize that a brand simply isn’t about a company’s logo, colors and other graphic material, but the overall experience your client has had upon interacting with your establishment. This is communicated in everything you do e.g customer interaction, but to the more obvious easy your website of navigating, the type of message your visual identity convey copywriting tenor, broadcast media and how quickly you respond to customer needs; and most importantly, how those needs are met.
Branding, Not Just For Large Corporations
It isn’t necessary that only large international corporation can achieve a high value brand; as a matter of fact, small businesses have a greater advantage over their larger counterparts simply because it is often easier for them to provide consistent brand experiences. Because of the intimate understanding of communities served, small businesses are at a greater advantage in targeting niche markets. Think of how you felt upon walking into a restaurant that provided a down-home, congenial atmosphere; how you were greeted at the door, the owner’s smile, warmth, compassion, how you felt as though you belonged, like you were a part of that family. This is a great example of basic branding. You don’t patronize this family restaurant strictly for the down-home cooking, but for the warm glowing feeling you receive with each and every visit, the emotional bond that strengthens.
Creating Online Branding
There are many ways that you can brand your business online. From websites to customer services, everything you do online or related to it contributes to your brand.
One of the most effective online branding tools, one that has grown exponentially over the last five to ten years (due solely done its effectiveness), is business blogging to build business to customer (b2c) relations. Blogs are a wonderful tool for branding your business at many levels. A good business blog labels you as an expert in your given field, especially if you strive to produce consistent content on a daily or weekly basis. On the web people are searching for information, and seek expert advice to provide that information to them-someone they can learn from in hopes of accessing the resources, products, and services they need. Blogs also enable conversation directly between you and your global business partner-the perfect way to engage in two-way dialogue, most valuable in adding a personal touch for a company’s clientele and helping to build an element of trust.
Similarly, a well-constructed, informative website is also an effective and increasingly necessary way to brand a business even it business operates primarily offline. Like blogging, your web-based brand relies on good, useful, reliable content and information.
The Value Of Business Branding
Building and becoming true to your brand maintains the ability for your business to stay on course, so that your business remains highly differentiated and valuable to your target market. Remember that buyers are investing trust not only in your organization and company, but in you as an individual, so it is critical that your brand remains relevant, accurate and clear.
Upon establishing a differentiated and authentic brand that is relevant to your target audience, it is wise to make sure that all aspects of your establishment reinforce your message by developing certain guidelines that clearly state what is on or off-brand, helping to guide you as your establishment continues to grow. A clear, effective plan for branding and implementation of that plan will increase the value not only of those efforts, but also of your business as a whole.
