What comes to mind when you think of companies like Apple or Nike? Anyone can take one look at the Nike check mark and instantly be able to describe it in five words or less from their perspective. (Nike: Athleticism. Strength. Performance. Self-empowerment. Success.) How did these companies accomplish this? There are many reasons, but a major one is that they all stayed on brand across their marketing and communications.
Has your marketing lead, start-up consultant, or even your banker ever said the words “branding is important”? You know it is important. Everyone knows it’s important.
- Refresh: What is a Brand? Brand is the story about you or your business. It is about you, but it belongs to everyone else. It is not a logo nor a sell line. It isn’t even a product promise. These elements have a role to play in the cognitive recall and associative memory of how your brand makes consumers feel but ultimately that feeling belongs to them.
So, knowing that your brand doesn’t belong to you – that it is the feelings and perceptions of all who interact with your brand – you can see why you want to stay as close to your definition of your brand as possible. You don’t want to stray from what gave you passion at the start. It is of paramount importance you don’t lose sight of your purpose, or as Simon Sinek states, start with your “why.”
Knowing you shouldn’t stray and actually staying firmly on the tracks is more easily said than done. How can you be sure your brand hasn’t wandered too far from where you hoped it would live? There are three easy ways to stay on brand:
Keep Your Brand Simple
Your brand should be able to be stated in five words or less by those who interact with it. Can you define your own brand in five words or less? Try. It is a difficult but necessary task in your ability to convey your brand. Once you have defined it, you need to determine if how you perceive your brand matches how others perceive it. How do you do this? Ask them. Ask your customers, vendors and staff to describe your brand in five words or less.
- It is as important to understand how you are perceived internally as it is externally. Vendors and staff talk about your brand as much or more than your customers. They can be (or already are) your best backers or detractors.
Are you on the mark? Does your definition more or less match that of those around you? If so, great! If not, do you like the perceived definition that is out there? You can alter your own perception of your brand and make subtle changes to how you communicate going forward, to match what is already out there. Or, you can make efforts to rein in external and internal perceptions to more closely align to your purpose and vision.
When you are on brand, those around you tell you so without you needing to ask them. They are already complimenting you and your company unsolicited. When you are off-brand, there is much more silence. Listen to the compliments people offer you freely. Continue doing more of whatever it is they are complimenting you on.
Be Consistent
Project by project and email by email, are you portraying the tone and manner of your brand in a consistent and cohesive way? You have so much out there – your social pages and posts, your website, your proposals, your invoices, your emails (and even your email signature) – it is difficult to keep track of all the content you are spraying out there. But consistency can become a habit if you allow it to.
Before hitting send on an Instagram post or sending that email or speaking in that meeting, ask yourself “is my message consistent with my brand?” Does one message cohesively join with the last one and to the next one? Look back at what you have already pumped out there and ensure there is a pattern moving forward.
Every interaction is part of the larger mural that is and becomes your brand. Every communication transaction is a deposit or a debit to the overall brand bank account you have with your customers. You want to make every effort that you are consistently in the black.
Be Genuine
The term “customer-centric” has lost a bit of its luster due to over-usage, but it needs to be at the forefront of all that you do. Your passion for your business likely did not come from a price point, product placement or promotional offer. It came from your desire to fill a need for others–to help them with some problem they have. That was and should still be your purpose. Always remember that.
If a customer is using your product or service, it has very little to do with the product or service you offer. At the end of the day, they don’t care about what you do; they care about how you can help them. This distinction is massive. Your communications and marketing need to reflect how they feel and think, not how many widgets they need or how much they cost. For those whom you have not yet had a business transaction with, they have not seen the value in how you can help them…yet.
- At the end of the day, your customers don’t care about what you do; they care about how you – and what you offer – can help them.
To sum up…
When you spend time on your branding and you do it successfully, you’re going to see that your customers will respond better to your messages. Higher sales is an obvious result but positive reinforcement and compliments – online and in person – regarding your business will also flow your direction as well.
If you need assistance with your branding or re-branding efforts, contact a Wingman today.