“Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” — Howard Schultz, Former Chairman and CEO of Starbucks
Many people think that branding is simply the company logo. However, branding is more than just the logo. Your brand is who you are, the product or service and the promise that you make to a customer. Every customer is valuable to your company, but a loyal customer is the best investment for your success. Your company brand is what many of your customers come to trust and rely on – they become loyal to your product or service AND the satisfaction that they enjoy doing business with you. This loyalty and trust is grown over time and the challenge to any business is to make sure that their brand meets and hopefully exceeds the promise to the customer every time!
The consistency of a company brand is especially important in these two areas of marketing:
WEBSITE
Your website must accurately reflect what your customer will see, hear and feel when they reach out to you. The branding on a website goes far beyond just a logo, a few paragraphs with pictures and a modern design. Yes, your logo, pictures and content are important – but more important is “what does it say” to your customer – verbally, visually and honestly. Your brand is your promise and a window into why they should choose you. This means that everything they experience on every page of your website must align exactly with what they will experience in person when they call you, visit your showroom, or set up an appointment for an estimate.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Your company presence on any social media channel must make sense to a potential customer AND be consistent with the brand of your business. Your follower or interested customer must experience a consistent look, feel and voice on all social sites that they follow. Social media is a great way to attract new customers and to build trust with your existing customer beyond the business interaction. The landscape of social media is always changing and is best managed by a social media specialist who understands you and your audience, commits attention to providing interesting and helpful insight to your customers, and will build your customers’ trust in your brand.
