Your business brand is more than just a logo. It’s a set of values and ideas you convey to the public in the way you conduct business.
A Perth-based branding expert advises clients to think of branding as maintaining consistency in everything from your logo through to your website, social media communications and interactions with customers.
The first step in outlining your brand is to define your core strengths and business values, then decide how you would like to be perceived.
Building a unique and strong brand identity can generate a feel-good factor for your business and sets you apart from your competition.
People know what to expect when they deal with you and are likely to recommend you to others.
It can also help staff understand the goals and values of the company, which, in turn, helps them maintain this attitude during interactions with customers.
Along with maintaining this consistent ‘brand voice’, the expert says it’s important to develop and stick to a ‘brand look’.
“If I look at your website, your business card, your brochures — they should all look the same,” she says.
Look to Apple’s white-washing of products for an example of how a unique physical brand can set you apart.
And in this social media age, your brand can be enhanced or damaged by things not previously considered central to business — such as ethical standards in your supply chain, or your support for charitable causes.
Another factor increasingly at play in brand identity is the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or the role of businesses to give something back to the communities in which they operate.
No business is too small to exercise a little CSR. Consider supporting a charity that somehow aligns with your business products or values.
For example, if you sell stationary, you may support charities that provide school supplies for disadvantaged students.
If people feel your brand values align with their own, you will make a unique emotional connection and that promotes valuable loyalty.
