You can gain a distinct advantage over the competition when you make efforts to enhance brand appeal. The audience is the number one priority and your products must appeal to their ideal of what the brand should be rather than yours. Or at least let them think that! It is challenging to stay current and relevant, and branding is a powerful tool. So, from cultivating a compelling story to starting to use SEO, here are some ideas for elevating your company.
How To Build A Strong Brand
Begin with a UX and CX Overhaul
The most common gateway between your business and the customer is the website. Your website is a powerful first point of contact where you can wow customers instantly or drive them away in droves! Designing a website with a powerful UX and CX will improve the relationship between visitors and the brand. Most users will click away from a site if it is designed poorly. Keep the journey in mind, make it easy to navigate, and give customers what they expect.
Enhance Brand Appeal with a Story
All companies have a story. The only difference between majorly successful ones and computers that struggle to keep up is how they tell the story. A compelling story makes a huge difference, especially for a new company or startup. Customers love it when they can relate to a business in some way. This is why 75% of marketing professionals think storytelling is essential for branding. Relay your history, struggles, and what your business aims to achieve.
Focus on the Culture as Much as the Company
We’ve all seen the news reports from the past few years about toxic work culture. Hollywood and TV, the video games industry and Wall Street! Nowhere is safe from bullies, bigots and criminals. Emphasizing the culture of the workplace has never been so important as companies all over the world scramble to restructure and root out nefarious individuals. A compassionate and inclusive culture has major positive effects on the company, and business will follow.
Engage with Customers to Create Believers
With so much competition these days, engaging with customers has never been as critical as it is today. But even the odd marketing gimmick isn’t enough! People love brand identification, and your product/brand can become something more than a convenience; it can become a way of life! Look at brands like Sony, Apple, and Microsoft. These giants have armies of dedicated fans and customers, zealously loyal. This kind of loyalty takes time but pays off massively in the end.
Enhance Brand Appeal through Visual Identity
Most people think of visuals such as logos when they hear the word “branding.” But there is so much more to branding than a snappy image and a catchy slogan. However, visual identity is a major part of any branding project. So, here are some tips for creating a visual identity:
- Choose colors that are associated with your sector and goals.
- Limit colors to a few and use them consistently across all branding.
- Create guidelines for branding that can extend to company culture and employees.
- Stay consistent with all branding so people associate your design immediately.
- Study successful competitors and take inspiration from their visual designs.
- Try not to design your visual identity based on trending patterns that may pass.
- Stick with the same typeface/font when communicating written texts.
Colors are critical in branding. For example, blue conveys intelligence and knowledge, while orange is related to energy and innovation. Branding consistency increases the public association with your company and simplifies public relations and media communications.
Piggyback on Influencer Fame
There are social media influencers with legions of fans. So why not tap into some of that? Influencers are there to make money just like anyone else, and most will happily promote a brand or service they like. However, it must also appeal to their fans, so keep this in mind. A tech influencer won’t be interested in face cream, and neither will their followers! So, it makes sense to shortlist influencers with an affinity for the products and services you are offering.
Work on Brand Rituals for Reinforcement
You can build up quite a following with ritual engagement that loyal fans and casual customers alike will love. So, what does ritual mean in business? This simply refers to repeated engagement. For example, as a video game developer, you could host photo mode contests each month and give out prizes. As a CEO of a tech company, you can engage with fans with AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions on social media each week to help bring the audience closer.
Master SEO to Enhance Brand Appeal
Search Engine Optimization is one of the most underused tools in the branding box! It does require specialist knowledge to make the most of it, but you can begin using it right away. You also have a competitive edge since 56% of businesses don’t even invest in SEO. The most powerful SEO tactic is relevant and engaging content. Web content, such as blog posts that appeal to the audience and offer value, will help build your domain authority over time.
Always Control the Narrative!
No matter the brand, there are certain expectations. Yes, some shift now and then, and we even see a lot of rebranding. But the core message stays the same. You must ensure that you are always in control of the narrative of the brand and company. This is vital for news and media communication. But it’s also a critical method for keeping your audience. Dealing with the press is a perfect example where you must stick to the script and only reveal what you want to.
Improving the overall user and customer experience is a perfect way to enhance brand appeal as you overhaul a business. This includes website navigation and developing expected features. Visual identity is only part of branding but it is of particular importance. Logos, colors and typefaces should stay consistent. Above all, only reveal what you need to by controlling the narrative of the brand. This ensures it stays in-line with what customers have come to expect.
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