Is your business doing what it's saying to the market?
branding article
Branding your business – Internal vs. External
Creating a strong brand is essential to the success of a business. As a business owner you want your company to be remembered, you want your business name to be the first thing that comes to a customers mind when they think of the products and services that you sell.
Every day we mentally convert products to the brand that sells them.
- Hamburgers and Fries = McDonalds.
- Soft Drink = Coca-Cola.
- Computers = Microsoft or more recently, Apple.
These are all great examples of this process in action.
You could say that these brands are household names because they have a monopoly on their competition. But of course, even these companies had to start somewhere. That’s where strong branding comes in. If you can relate your brand to your product in the mind of the consumer, you have a recipe for success.
There are two major elements to Brand. How the public sees your business before they become a customer and how they view your business as a customer.
Branding before a sale. (External Branding)
External branding is how we portray ourselves in public. Projecting the image of our business through advertising is often the initial contact we have with a customer. This is the first impression you make, so it needs to be a good one. Logos, selling messages, signage and the overall look of your external branding are incredibly important.
External Branding needs to do 3 things.
- Peak the public’s interest.
- Be memorable
- Explain what your business does.
All these things are targeted to ‘get them in the door’.
If you peak a potential customer’s interest, they will want to know more. So present a message that allows you to stand out from your competition.
If your brand is memorable, people will talk about you. The more people who talk about your brand the more customers you will create. So your message needs to be something that’s hard to ignore.
Lastly, don’t try to be too clever. It is all well and good to create a fantastic looking advertisement or message that people remember and talk about, but if they don’t remember what it is that your business actually does. How will they ever relate your product to your brand?
Branding after a sale. (Internal Branding)
Internal branding is about the experience the customer has dealing with your business. This is where you brand your company from the inside out?
Now, we could talk about friendly staff and about making the experience a pleasant one. But I think the most important thing in building your brand is to make sure that you keep your promises.
A client or customer needs to walk away from your business feeling that you have delivered on everything that your external branding promised. Which in turn builds a relationship of trust with those customers.
If you advertise that a product costs $X then make sure the customers is charged $X. No hidden extras. No extra Fees. If you say a product will be delivered within 7 days, make sure it’s there on time.
It’s the promises that we keep with our customers that keeps them coming back.
The word of mouth advertising these happy customers spread is priceless. People are far more likely to believe the recommendation of a friend than any television or radio advertisement. So by building this trust with these customers you will be transferring it through them to everyone they know.
By using external branding to draw customers in and internal branding to build trust in the minds of consumers – you’ll position yourself to grow a successful brand in whatever industry you choose.
Visit the Crimson Fox web site for Brand Promotion Services
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