The holidays are over, the New Year has dawned and the end of the fiscal year is still far enough away that businesses can still make adjustments. This makes right now the ideal time to take stock of your brand. I firmly believe a strong corporate brand is one of the most influential assets of any business. Your brand identifies you to your clients and seeks to engage them in an ongoing relationship. It represents the sum of all your marketing efforts and strategies — your logo, emails, advertisements, social media channels, and marketing.
Good corporate branding draws in clients, builds loyalty among those clients, and separates you from your competition. Your branding strategy should serve to attract the best business to your company. Today, I’ll share the seven reasons a better brand can help your business this year.
1. Better branding helps you identify your target audience.
I often see businesses make the mistake of assuming everyone is their target audience. These companies water down their brand while trying to please everyone and they end up attracting no one, instead. Nothing sets them apart. A strong branding strategy develops and uses an ideal client profile to define a niche market. Then, all messages target that niche. This will improve lead generation because you target the right audience, rather than simply a large audience.
2. A consistent brand will attract clients consistently.
When talking about branding, I always go back to the company credited with today’s modern branding strategies, Proctor & Gamble. This company consistently attracts its target market — moms — to its brands because of brand consistency. The more your brand is recognized through your website, materials, and even your email signature, the more a client will see you as a solid market leader.
3. Strong brands turn even small businesses into empires.
Yes, image is everything especially with today’s savvy consumers. They can spot a sloppy logo or slapped together website in seconds. Better branding elevates your company from a “mom and pop” operation to a business worthy of a second look.
4. Branding strategies hone your message to meet your client needs.
Too often, I see marketing messages focused only on what marketers want to say rather than what clients want to hear. A strong brand strategy examines client needs, addresses them, and anticipates those needs. By demonstrating a commitment to serving clients, you will build a loyal following and turn current clients into brand advocates.
5. Set yourself apart in a crowded marketplace.
There is a lot of competition out there and you need to set yourself apart. A strong brand strategy separates you from the competition by highlighting what you do differently and how you operate as a thought leader in the industry.
6. Branding focuses your efforts.
Spending time developing a strong brand strategy helps your company develop a laser focus on your core mission and focuses all efforts directly on achieving those key goals. A weak brand has lost sight of that mission and can lead efforts astray.
7. Strong brands save time and money.
A lack of a branding strategy can cause you to lose out on potential business opportunities while you spend time trying to educate clients on who you are. Start off this year with a strong brand strategy and hit the ground running so you can put your efforts into growing your business.
Your brand is your strongest asset to build lead generation, attract and retain top clients, and drive traffic to your website. Start working with a better brand strategy and see the results for your business.
Roye Okupe is a Marketing & Branding expert focused on helping entrepreneurs, start-ups and small business become major players in their markets. He is the founder of Roye Productions, an Inbound Marketing agency with a variety of services designed to transform entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses into major players in their markets
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