One of the most important, and unfortunately most neglected, aspects of launching a business is establishing a brand. It guides your decisions moving forward, and creates a framework for progress. It’s more than a set of rules that dictate your company’s visuals. Branding is the way that a business is perceived in every touch-point between itself and its clients. When each interaction with a possible client is thoughtfully tailored to convey the same message, they will walk away with an understanding of your business’ identity and positioning in the marketplace.
Recognition and Trust
The logo is notoriously the first item to pop into the minds of business owners evaluating their brand. It is often the first impression that a consumer will have. With a good logo this opportunity can be leveraged to create recognition. Without the use of words, Nike’s swoosh or Apple’s logomark will trigger immediate recognition for most any person in a first world country.
As buying is an inherently emotional experience, consumers will always gravitate to a business that appears trustworthy. Poor design, conflicting messages, and underdeveloped branding can quickly turn away a customer that was otherwise ready to hand over their hard earned cash.
Lead Generation
Establishing a “customer avatar” is a crucial aspect of creating your brand. This process calls to your attention what makes a perfectly ideal customer and everything about their interests, patterns, and lifestyle. A well developed customer avatar is the metric for good advertising.
While advertising is an obvious necessity for bringing in new business, referrals from happy clients can provide a large part of your lead generation – at no cost to you. To achieve any success in acquiring new business this way, it is necessary to create a positive and purposeful interaction with your existing client base.
Originality
In today’s marketplace of online business, rapidly growing small business, and corporate powerhouses, it is paramount to capitalize on your business’ uniqueness. This is mostly clearly outlined in your “unique selling proposition” or USP. Often referred to as a slogan, the 5 to 8 word tagline clearly states why a consumer should be interested in your services and how you differ from the competition.
