What does your branding say about you?

Look around you and you’ll see a brand nearby. What does that brand convey? Is it trustworthy, luxurious, budget-friendly, fun, boring, unreliable…? People react quickly to branding, and their decisions impact sales. The following steps will help you take a look at your branding through new eyes, so you can ensure your company sending the right message.

1. When did you last update your look?

New trends don’t just affect clothes – they hit logos, fonts, web design and print layouts too. Pull out your latest brochure, ad or website and compare it with that of a competitor or market leader. Does yours look out of date? Fashions change particularly quickly online, so if your website is more than 3-4 years old, consider a refresh.

Top tip: Get a colleague, trusted friend or family member to look over materials with you. They’ll have fresh thought and reactions.

2. Are your materials second-rate?

Poor quality promotional materials and branded items make a business seem low-rate. Every new business owner has to make compromises along the way, but after that difficult first year it’s time to start upgrading. If you compromised on quality initially, perhaps by creating your own logo or printing flyers on the office printer, it’s time to go professional so that you look professional.

3. What do you want your branding to say?

If you don’t know how you want people to remember your company, it’s almost impossible to create a consistent branding strategy. If a customer, competitor or supplier described your brand, which words would they use? Which words would you want them to use?

4. Does your style match your values?

Once you know what image you’d like to present, you can compare it with your current materials. Taking online marketing as an example. An accessible, adventurous brand targeting adults up to 35 might have a casual, friendly website and a strong presence on sites like Pinterest and Twitter while an authoritative, business supply firm would have a more formal, practical site and a presence on LinkedIn and at industry events.

5. Is everyone on board?

Branding needs to be consistent to be effective. That’s doesn’t mean all your sales people need to use the same script: it means that you need a company-wide consistent marketing strategy. If your brand is a hip, friendly skateboarding label, you should have a hip, friendly website, be hip and friendly on Twitter, and send hip, friendly emails. Suddenly posting a sterile, business-like ad will confuse and shock customers, even if the ad design is excellent. On the flip side, an expert lab supply company would repel customers by using hip, friendly skateboarding slang. It’s essential that you create a clear brand profile and ensure that your team are all on board to build a strong brand.

If you are a business based in Portsmouth, Hampshire or elsewhere and would like to find out more how we can help you with branding, social media & digital marketing visit our pages or to find more about our web design and digital marketing team
or view our portfolio

Anders Bohea – Managing Director – boxChilli Digital Marketing

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