Your Brand Is More Than A Logo

Branding is your like business’s personality.

It is the story that you tell around everything you do in business.

It is often the first thing that customers see of you and your business.

It should not only be totally unique to your business; it should be the way customers distinguish you from your competitors.

So what does make up a brand?

Your brand is the public image of your business.

It is the voice and feel that you portray for your business.

It is the image that you create around your business that reflects your style and your values in a way that appeals to your targeted audience.

Some elements that make up your branding include:

  • Business name
  • Logo
  • Colours
  • Business values
  • Products/services
  • Customer service
  • Packaging
  • Quality
  • Value
  • Price
  • The language you use
  • Your images
  • The context in which you operate
  • And more.

Your brand is the idea or image of your business and it is what customers connect with. By building a strong brand you increase your consumers connection to you and your business and this helps to build trust and loyalty.

Brand awareness, brand recognition and your reputation are all important for your businesses success.

The more recognisable and easy to remember that your brand is, the more likely you are to have success in business.

Today I want to talk you through some criteria that you can use to evaluate your brand, find the places you excel, and see where you might need some improvement. Go through each of these elements and make notes as to where your brand is currently and where you like it to be.

Focused

Does your business have a strong and clear focus?

Ideally this should be just one or two words.

What is the CORE of your business?

Why does it exist?

Intangible

Hoe does your business make people feel? 

Effective branding taps into what the customer feels.

What is the emotion you want people to feel when they connect with your business?

They may be loyal customers, or potential customers looking over your website for the first time – how do you make them feel the way you want them to?

Unique

The essence of a brand is how your business is different from your competitors. You need to find that thing that makes your business unique and let people know about it.

Try and think of one thing you do better than other businesses.

What do customers thank you for?

What is your point of difference?

The Experience

How does your customer feel during their interaction with your offering?

Does wearing your clothes make the customer feel beautiful?

Perhaps your coaching gives them an experience of feeling in control and empowered?

Jot down how you hope to make your customers think and feel while they are consuming your products.

Consistency

Is the essence of your brand delivered to your customers on a regular basis?

All your marketing, advertising, social media etc needs to feed into the same story.

Is your branding consistent and clear?

Are their ways you can improve it?

Authenticity

Is your branding credible, believable, and authentic?

You need to be able to deliver (and ideally over deliver) on the promise your brand offers.

Sustainable and recognisable

Your branding, colours and logo might all change over time, mine certainly have, but it should always remain consistent with your core message.

Rebranding is sometimes necessary but it shouldn’t be done without a lot of planning and consideration.

Your style will evolve and that’s OK but be aware that often the smallest elements that make up your brand are what make it the most recognisable so if you do mix things up a bit be sure to bring your customers along for the journey.

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Where is your Branding now?

Now that we have talked about the many elements that make up your brand, and this is not an exhaustive list, think abut your website, your social media, your customer emails, business cards, packaging etc and how they help to tell your brand’s story. Can you think of some simple ways to tell a clearer story?

What is your overall message and is it coming through in your content?

Is it clear what you offer and the benefits of your offer?

Are the colours, images, fonts you use consistent across the different platforms?

What kind of language do you use and is it consistent?

What about your overall tone and attitude?

Do you stand behind your branding? Are you proud of it? If not, what changes can you make so you do.

Have fun thinking of ways to better share your brand story with the world!

 

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