Did you know that companies with a stronger brand identity stand a better chance in closing deals with clients than their contemporaries?
Large companies like Apple, Nike, and Coca Cola spend millions every year to promote and develop their brands because they understand how it translates to sales and client base. The knowledge of the difference between sales and branding is the reason why these companies are where they are today. They obviously understand how the two could impact each other. Making sales on your product or services is not a lasting achievement, yes you made a profit but what experience did you leave that customer with?
No matter the size of your business, a strong brand identity gives you an edge and places you in the mind of your customers as a quality brand that is worth paying for.
What makes up a brand is how customers feel the moment they interact with a particular product, service or business.
I personally have a feel-good feeling when I think about Tasty Fried Chicken, and I am always ready to try out their new packages.
The point I’m trying to make is, you have a certain level of trust for large companies like; TFC, Apple, Coca-cola, Nike,e.t.c. Whether you’ve had a bad experience with one of their products or not, because they already have a strong brand identity.
Here are ways you can build a stronger brand identity and improve sales;
1. Examine Your Brand
Building a brand requires patience, will power, effort and the belief that your brand will stand the test of time.
For your business to be widely known for a particular product or services and to improve sales, the first step is to conduct a thorough brand audit to know where you stand in the marketplace by understanding who your customer is and categorizing your target audience.
After that, you need to know exactly what is required by your customers, what they expect of you as a company, and what they think about your brand.
What every business should strive for is to remain relevant and credible. No one is saying it’s going to be easy, all I am certain about is that It’s very much achievable.
2. Develop your Brand’s Creative Elements
Take the time to create the feel, look, and voice of the brand that will be used throughout all your marketing channels. This is where logo, colour, typography, packaging and overall style come in. Your brand’s element should be distinctive, consistent and stay true to your company’s values, that way customers will see you as a credible brand.
3. Implement, Analyze and Redefine Strategies
Implement, analyze and redefine your strategies, to know which works for you best. You are marketing right when your customers are ever ready to testify about your brand.
Although a quality brand identity is built over time, your brand identity should not just be a mission statement on the wall but it should be implemented and redefined when the need arises. Implementing, analyzing and redefining various strategies helps to grow and strengthen your brand awareness in a competitive world.
4. Focus on Building Long Term Relationships
As a person trying to establish or run a successful business, don’t limit your strategy to just selling, but make room for creating a memorable user experience.
If you think about it, you’ll discover that the majority of these big brands don’t even bother convincing people to buy their product, they may run ads, but they don’t double stress the point that they need to sell. They focus more on building their brand and so their ads are usually about how much your life will change once you use their product and the experience you get from using such a product. Their ads never sound like a sales pitch.
You should focus more on building long term relationships, it should be the user experience over immediate profit. This will help you build a successful and authentic brand identity. Meanwhile, It is never too late to do this.
ALSO READ: Protecting your Brand’s Online Reputation For a Favourable Business Image
5. Be Specific and Consistent with Building Your Brand
For your branding effort to be successful, you must identify your companies core philosophies such as mission statement and values and relate it to your customers. Specificity saves you time and money.
Also, be consistent with building your brand. Brand consistency increases customers trust, enhances customer’s loyalty, improves the perception of your brand, makes your brand more dependable and improves your sales.
Once you’ve chosen a unique brand voice, use it for every piece of content you create, Inconsistency will confuse your customers, and make it difficult to get long-term loyal customers.
Do you have a plan to build up your brand image and improve sales? You can start with these tips.