You want your company name to stand out above the rest. Your customers and readers should be reminded of quality and consistency when they see your logo or read the formatting at the top of your blog page. How do you develop that message for your customers? Here are ten factors that you need to keep in mind when fashioning your own branding.
1. Tone of voice
You might sell shoes to the masses or you might have the best candy on the planet. Choose the way that you wish to speak to your customers. Do you want to project an austere image using only formal, stilted speech? Would you rather be informal and relaxed? Talk to your customers like they would speak to you.
2. Theme
Decide what the theme to your website is going to be. Do you want it to have a western flair? Do you want to speak about what you do? Your theme will be spread across all of your marketing platforms.
3. Color
What is your favorite color? The colors of your company should be aesthetically pleasing. Reds tend to get the heart rate up, blues are calming and relaxing. What colors best describe the company that you have created?
4. Uniqueness
When creating a brand, you do not want to imitate the others in the field. You want your brand to stand completely on its own, so there will be no question of what the customer thinks of them they think of your company. Stand out above the crowd.
5. Start small
Branding is done over time. Your brand is built through reputation and through interactions with customers. Start with the little things that your customers will see. Do not think of the masses, think of the fact that brands are built one impression at a time.
6. Get your people on the same page
Make sure that you have everybody from all of your departments on the same page before you launch your branding campaign. Your salespeople should know about the ‘X’ way of doing things so they can solidify your brand within the customer’s eyes. If your internal people do not know what you’re doing, how can you be consistent?
7. Consistency
All external interactions, be it through business card, phone calls, press releases or articles should possess your company’s branding. Your signature line for the forums should have something about your brand as well as what types of services that you offer. The interactions that you create should stay consistent with the tone of voice and the themes that you have created.
8. Branding is built one customer at a time
Each interaction, be it through email or your website, makes an impression of your company. Make sure that your company is technically perfect. The customers are well aware of the visceral impression that your company creates, so bend over backward to make sure that everything is right for them.
9. Tell a story
When thinking about your brand, you want to tell a story about why you are in business. The story should be based on fact, and tell your customers why you started to do what you’re doing. This creates the image that you are accessible, further increasing your brand’s image.
10. You are number one
Why should customers come to you? What unique service do you offer over your competition? Your customers and website viewers should be left with the impression that you are the only choice for their needs. Let the passion and the commitment that you have to the company shine, and the customers will come.
Your company needs to use the same tone of voice and theme every time that it interacts with a customer. The logo should be unique, setting you apart from your competition. Building a brand takes persistence, but it yields great results.
James is a writer for an online store offering ink cartridges in the UK where he writes about products like the HP 300XL. He also posts on their blog about art, design and media.