Brand image is one of the most important elements to help your business succeed. Here are 5 key strategies to help you build that reputation.
According to Venngage, 48 per cent of consumers state that their first interaction with a brand is the best time to earn their loyalty.
But you never know whether your first interaction with a potential customer would happen on a website, an application, an advertisement, or in a physical environment.
Big names—such as Apple, Nike, Target, and Amazon—have come a long way in building their brand images. Those brand images are now so solid that all it takes to sell their products is their logo.
If you feel that your organisation doesn’t have the brand image it deserves, don’t worry. We are here to help. The following 5 strategies will be your secret to leaving a lasting impression in no time.
#1 Reinforce the bedrock
If you want to create a robust brand image for your organisation, you should first ask these questions:
Why — the reason for your existence and your passion for what you do.
How — the elements that set you apart from your competitors.
What — your products and services.
Thinking on these lines will help you come up with ideas that can help your brand grow. Indeed it is important to expand your horizons and make your products and services available to as many people as possible. But, realistically speaking, you must have a niche, right?
So, once you have examined the uniqueness of your brand, now’s the time to bring your target customers under the spotlight. Apart from assessing their demographics, you can always deep-dive and examine the following factors:
• Motivations
• Pain points
• Brand affinities
• Goals
• Influencers
Once you understand your organisation and consumers on a deeper level, you’ll be able to transform your brand personality accordingly.
#2 Fine-tune your visual communication
According to the Picture Superiority Effect, people are more likely to remember visual information than the same information in words.
It speaks to the fact that an organisation willing to make a lasting brand image never compromises on digital designs. Speaking of visual communication, the first thing that pops in our heads is to have an impactful logo for your brand.
A logo sums up your brand image in a simple graphic mark. You can expect your organisation’s logo to be present everywhere—on massive billboards, letterheads, business cards, websites, and mobile phone apps. This makes your logo a very integral part of your brand’s personality.
Therefore, it is crucial to design a logo that communicates with the audience precisely what you want to convey. And to put that into effect, make sure that your logo doesn’t fall short on:
• Uniqueness
• Intelligent colour usage
• Versatility
• Balance and simplicity
To have a powerful brand logo, you cannot afford to overlook the competency of your in-house graphic designing team. Alternatively — something that many notable organisations do —you could seek help from a professional logo design company to come up with an impactful logo. But in any case, be sure to step up your visual game in order to create a life-long impression upon your customers.
#3 Invest in Digital Marketing
In a 2020 report, Marketingcharts reported a 50 per cent increase in digital marketing as compared to 2016.
So, why do we continue to see a boom in digital marketing?
Digital marketing platforms serve as the perfect canvas to paint your brand’s image. Marketers love to capitalise on social media platforms given that one-third of the world’s population are active on it. But social media marketing is just one facet of the expansive digital marketing world.
When 88 per cent of the global internet community searches products online, a window of opportunity is created for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
SEO, in simple terms, means to optimise your website for specific keywords so that when your target audience searches a product or service that you deal in, your website should be there at the top.
With that being said, money is not the only factor that is in play here. When people find your brand on digital platforms, they build an affiliation for it. Consequently, your organisation is likely to climb up the ladder of credibility if you make your presence felt through digital marketing.
#4 Pay attention to your website and mobile app
According to statistics, there were 205 billion mobile app downloads in 2018. And that figure is expected to escalate to 258 billion by the end of 2022. This figure is massive.
As such, now is the best time to shift your priorities to mobile phone applications, especially given the fact that there are currently 2.7 billion active mobile phone users across the world.
Some of the ways websites and applications provide value to customers are by providing:
• An insight into the organisation
• Personalised experience
• Important updates and alerts
• Coupons and discount vouchers
• Answers to FAQs
Additionally, apps and websites enable organisations to have real-time interaction with customers. If your queries can be addressed in a matter of minutes, and your feedback is taken to improve the service, it makes sense to like that brand a little bit more.
#5 Connect on an emotional level
Did you ever wonder what led Starbucks to write the names of its customers on their coffee cups?
It’s an emotional affiliation with the customers that the multinational chain of coffeehouses aspired to achieve.
People feel important and connected when they get a product or service personalised for them — making it inevitable for organisations to make their businesses customer-centric.
Consider this scenario: It is Andy‘s birthday today. Andy is out of the town for work, and he feels lonely and sad. To his surprise, he receives a push notification from an e-commerce store. It wishes him a happy birthday and asks him to open it for a surprise. Inside he discovers a coupon of worth $50.
Now, Andy is happy, and he loves the e-commerce store even more.
Consumers feel special when organisations track their habits and activities and tailor experiences for them accordingly. Another way of striking a chord is by telling a story. When you tell people about your journey, you stir up some powerful emotions.
What’s more, you can do wonders by providing people a peek behind the curtains. When you showcase your dedication in bringing the products and services to them, you reserve a special place in their hearts.
Wrapping it up
Once you have picked the right tools to take your brand image to the next level, you have to make sure that they are consistent across all the platforms. Disparities lead to negative brand impressions and hamper your organisation’s growth.
Brand engagement has evolved and will continue to do so. So, keep connecting the dots and never cease the search for new strategies.
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