Did you know that around 60% of customers prefer to purchase from brands that are familiar to them? Being a small or medium business, you have to compete against giants on the market with unlimited budgets for advertising and marketing. That’s why you need to build a unique brand as a way to stand out! How can you do that?
Your brand goes beyond your name and logo. You need to come up with a solid strategy that will help your customers perceive your business positively. As a form of market reputation and a comprehensive strategy, brands aren’t born overnight. What are some of the most effective brand-building ways for businesses?
1. Have a unique value proposition
What is the main purpose of your brand? Successful companies have a powerful intention behind their ways that fuel their every move and strategy. Such purpose leads us to the value we offer to our customers. Therefore, it’s not hard to believe that buyers engage more with powerful brands with unique propositions.
To create a unique value proposition and provide your customers with what they truly need, you need to walk a mile in their shoes. The easiest and most efficient way of making a connection between your customers and your brand is by understanding their problems and how can they benefit from your product’s values.
2. Develop a visual identity
As we mentioned, branding, including the visual identity goes beyond just the logo and the name. You have to choose colors and visually present your brand in the right way. When it comes to colors, mind the psychological effect and meaning behind them, not just a personal preference. The colors you use elicit emotional responses, which is an ideal way of making customers interact with your brand.
In addition to that, everything you present to your customers is a form of visual branding. For instance, if you sell clothes or fashion items, the way you photograph, arrange and edit them will influence how your customers perceive the brand.
3. Integrate the brand’s story into everything you do
Behind every great brand is a story you tell to your customers. To attract customers, you need to create a customer-centric story. Therefore, the main hero of your brand’s story should be the buyer, not the brand or business itself! That’s how you’ll highlight the importance of your consumers and guide them to solve their issues using your products.
Be sure to include your distinctive features in the story. What makes you special compared to other brands on the market? Build consistency, credibility, and character for your brand and integrate it into every part of your business. For instance, if you need to post something on social media, integrate your story in the video, picture, or text to make it authentic.
4. Create an extraordinary customer experience
To attract and retain your customers, you need to display an overall exceptional customer experience. From the first points of contact, like your ad or your website, all the way to delivery, your customers need to be satisfied to become loyal. Therefore, work on the customer experience by improving your social skill, and marketing skills and optimizing your website. What do your customers need to be attracted to the brand?
Offer them a chance to participate in your business and be co-creators with you. Many famous brands from the fashion to food industries implemented this little trick that engaged their customers and increased profits. Consider implementing the Unmade platform to your fashion business website so you can improve customer experience and allow participation in the process of manufacturing.
5. Build your community
In the end, we mustn’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth! Our loyal and satisfied customers are our best brand ambassadors that help us create and cater to a positive image on the market. Help them spread out the positive word by building a community where you interact with customers and promote your products.
To build a brand with a community use social media profiles and various types of events. Reward your loyal customers with branded shirts or similar merch. On top of that, such communities, no matter how small, an ideal place for collecting data and getting feedback on your current work. All you have to do is be active and interact with your customers every chance you get, whether it’s online or in an actual brick-and-mortar store.
Final thoughts
As you can see, building a brand and attracting customers is a process you can’t complete overnight. It takes a lot of time, trust and transparency to build a reputation on the market that will help you stand out in the crowd. So, use these tips to get started and create a brand your target audience will love!