Effective branding is arguably the single most important thing for any successful business to nail down. It’s also the trickiest. Getting your branding right is the key to repeat business. It’s about ensuring that when real or potential customers are looking for what you offer, they think of you.
A brand is something you build, rather than something you can create overnight. Although it can be a painstaking process, building a powerful brand will always reap major dividends. Follow these simple yet effective branding tips if you want to turbocharge your business.
1. Consistency is Key
Perhaps the most important element of brand identity is consistency. All of your brandings should be instantly recognizable, which means that you need a uniform aesthetic across all of your platforms and products. Take the billion-dollar online cloud storage platform Dropbox, which adorns all of its products, services, and communications with their signature, hand-drawn blue box logo. The result of this technique is that you make a lasting impression in the mind of the customer.
2. Tap into What People Already Recognize
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to branding. It is often more effective to piggyback onto well-known cultural icons in order to grab attention and make an impression. This could be a historical figure, a famous place, or a well-known saying. One stellar example of this kind of branding is the Cleopatra online slot at LuckyPantsBingo.com, which uses the imagery of Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt to distinguish themselves, including giving their customers real-money bonuses in the guise of scarab beetles, sphinxes, and lotuses. Attention to detail is key.
3. Keep Good Company
Any smart branding strategy includes a discerning attitude. Be mindful of the companies and brands you choose to associate with, as this will have a lasting impact on how customers see and perceive you. This isn’t just about avoiding unsavoury brands, but also ensuring that brands you might choose to collaborate with actually have something in common with you. Take, for example, the branding partnership between Balmain and H&M, which brought together their disparate target audiences in a way that made sense.
4. Don’t Do Too Much
In the quest to build a large brand following, it is all-too-easy to get carried away. Remember that less is more, and those that try to please everyone often end up pleasing no one. Find your niche, stick to it from the start, keep it simple and never deviate from your core message. It’s better to focus on a small number of core, high-quality products that you can dedicate your energies and marketing towards, rather than trying to be a jack of all trades.
5. Have Purpose
It’s 2019, and people are interested in companies that have a vision. This doesn’t mean you need to have lofty aspirations of changing the world, but it does mean that you should choose a slogan and mission statement that reflects your values and tells people that you are passionate about what you’re selling them. This can be achieved with just a few words. Take the media organization TED, whose mission statement is simply “spread ideas”, or the furniture company IKEA, whose mission is to “create a better everyday life for ordinary people”. Show purpose and customers will start to pay attention.
As you can see, an effective branding strategy is all about integrating values and ideas into your business. Follow these simple tips to ensure that every engagement leaves a lasting impression.
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