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Branding is one of the areas a business focuses on in order to differentiate itself from the competition and stay profitable. Without a strong brand, the successful businesses we grew up to become familiar with would not be really successful.
To build a successful business, you need to get your branding right. Your branding efforts should be based on a set of guides. These branding guides are what companies like Coca-Cola, Apple, and others have mastered. They are applicable whether you're marketing online or in the real world.
Overall, you should be able to build a brand that your customers can trust and rely on if you follow the branding rules outlined below.
1. Use Appealing Design
Aesthetics is an important factor when it comes to creating a brand for your business. From your color choices to the curves in your logo, there is a psychological interpretation that your customers pick from what they see.
According to statistics, color increases brand recognition by up to 80%. When creating the design that your brand is going to be associated with, the process in achieving optimal results can be trying but the outcome is a brand that customers will love.
You need to consider what elements will appeal to the brain and implement them in your branding effects. For example, according to a guide by printing and business cards company ZoomInfo, leaving white spaces in your business cards creates the impression of sophistication and good taste.
Making sure your design is very appealing can help project your brand positively.
2. Be Consistent in Your Delivery
Effective branding thrives on consistency. This is why so much thought has to go into how you want your brand to feel like. From the logo to the message and what your advertising feels like, your branding should be consistent.
The experience your clients get from your brand will go on to shape their perception about your business. This effect has to be maintained in order to gain the trust of your buyers. It's even so when your business is targeting millennials. According to a study by SDL, 60% of US millennials expect a consistent experience when interacting with a brand, whether online, mobile or in-store.
To achieve a consistent brand feel, the underlying goal of every content should resonate with the core brand message.
3. Develop a Brand Identity Your Consumers Want to Relate With
People tend to identify with companies that share their values and ideals. Your customers should be able to identify your brand by how it is presented and what it says about itself. This means your brand's culture should resonate in the personality it puts out and how it builds its relationships.
A good model to assess your brand identity is through the lens of branding model structure called "Brand Identity Prism".
The "Brand Identity Prism", developed by internationally recognized corporate branding specialist named Jean-Noel Kapferer, highlights six aspects of brand identity:
•Physique
•Personality
•Culture
•Relationship
•Reflection
•Self-image
According to this system, a brand's success is dependent on how well it's able to blend these six elements.
4. Understand Your Customers Deeply
How much information a brand has of its target audience will reflect on the success of the brand. Some of the most successful brands have taken decades to study their ideal customers and they still spend so much in acquiring information about their customers.
Having data such as the taste or preferences, income levels and age bracket of your customers can help project your company in a way that appeals to your audience.
Having a deep understanding of your audience can also help you minimize churn rate which is often as a result of poor brand positioning.
5. Stay True to The Message of Your Brand
Broken promises and failure to meet up to client expectations are one of the reasons most brands end up losing customer trust. According to statistics from Bopdesign, 54% of people don't trust brands. Not staying true to your message and promises is the leading cause of this.
For your business to become successful, keep your brand message simple and aim to deliver on your promises. Consistently breaking your promises will give your business a poor reputation and damage your brand image.