Your business is running smoothly and you’re past the beginning stages. You have those parts down, but now you want to turn your small company into a recognizable brand. While it may seem complicated, it doesn’t have to be.
Here are four realistic steps to create a high-quality brand.
Determine Your Brand Values
If you haven’t created a business plan yet, now is the time. You need to decide what your company’s mission, vision and values are and create a plan to meet those goals. This is the essence of your brand. Your mission should be a clear statement on what your business does whereas your vision and values show where you’re going and who you’re going to be as a company.
Determine what’s most important to you (having the best quality products in your industry, using ethically sourced ingredients and materials, being transparent to customers, etc.), and then brainstorm how every person and process in your company fulfills your values.
Know What you Provide
Once you know what your values are as a company, the next step is to figure out what your promise is to the customer. Are you promising to provide 24-hour customer service seven days a week, 365 days a year? Or are you promising that every customer will be satisfied with your product?
You need to know what value you’re providing to your customers, what they expect of you and how you’re different than your competitors. Your promise should shine through in all of your brand messaging, advertisements, social media posts, email campaigns and marketing efforts.
Assess Your Strengths and Weaknesses
The next step requires you to take an honest look at your organization. Are you doing everything you can to achieve your goals and fulfill on your promise to your customers? Start by figuring out what you’re doing right.
If you have customers coming through your doors or ordering your products online, you must be doing something right. Ask your customers to fill out a survey about their experience in your store or what they like best about your products. Use their positive answers in your next marketing campaign to boost your brand image.
Now comes the tough part. You need to be honest with yourself about your weaknesses. Are you slow on delivering your product or does your customer service need some work? Don’t be discouraged by what’s wrong, but use it as an opportunity to improve.
Show your customers what you’re doing to make their experience better and how you’re overcoming adversity. This will show them that you’re a brand worth trusting.
Be Consistent
Consistency is key. Your customers should know what to expect from you at all times in every medium.
Create a style guide and brand guidelines so everyone in your company is using the same terminology, voice, tone, spelling, colors, logos and phrases. This helps your customers understand who you are, whether it’s fun, flirty, serious or informative.
Consistency should also be part of your processes. This helps you deliver on your business promise. Your customers should know what to expect in your customer service as well as your physical products and delivery times. The more consistent you are, the more likely you are to earn repeat customers.
Over to You
What are some key things you do to grow your brand, that you believe to be the most valuable?
