To have your own business is something but to convert your business into a brand is a whole different thing. In today’s market, it is easy to find many businesses that are similar to yours and offer the same product or service. What differentiates your business from the others is how it stands out.
One of the ways that can help you stand out is starting to treat your business as a brand and not just a business.
The question here is how to turn your business into a brand. It is not an easy process and it will take some time and effort.
Why would you want to be a brand?
Businesses don’t inspire customer loyalty, businesses don’t have fans, and they don’t start huge discussions or touch thousands of lives. Brands do.
When we talk about being a ‘brand’, we mean the perception of your business in the eyes of the public. It’s what your prospect thinks of when he or she hears your brand name. It’s everything the public thinks it knows about your brand offering, from the factual (that it comes in a bright red box with a glittery bow) to the emotional (it’s a romantic gift for a lover).
But your brand only exists in the minds of your customers, and that’s a very powerful thing. Branding improves recognition of your business, creates trust in your customers, supports advertising efforts, generates buzz around your business and even brings financial value by itself.
But how do you turn your business into a brand?
1- Think of Your Business As A Person
If your business was a person, imagine how it would be.
The first thing you can do is set the characteristics of the personality; how you want it to be according to the type of your service or product.
So, before anything, imagine the personality with its traits then start from this point.
2- Always put the customer first
The single easiest way to build a successful brand is to put the customer at the centre of your services. Happy customers are more likely to talk about their experiences and rave about your brand, building up a positive identity around your business.
If you focus on satisfying your customer needs and delivering fantastic products or services, you will be creating a good reputation for yourself and your business. Good branding starts with good reputations and good customer stories.
In terms of marketing, this might mean re-orienting your mindset. Ask yourself, are you engaging your customers and delivering value, or are you just marketing to them?
Are you really putting yourself in the shoes of your customers, designing your services to fit their needs, ahead of your own?
When you start thinking like this, you take the first step to building a brand.
3- Create A Consistent Tone of Voice
Your Brand’s tone of voice needs to match the identity and persona and needs to be consistent.
Every brand has a certain tone of voice depending on its persona. This tone of voice doesn’t change unless your brand’s identity can allow some adjustments. For example, we have seen some banks turn from a formal tone of voice to a friendly one and more modern to be able to keep up with the whole sector.
Put in mind that not every brand can afford to change its tone of voice and when you start creating it put in mind the type of business you own.
4- Start Forming A Relationship With Your Customers
Communication is the key to a successful brand-customer relationship.
Part of turning your business into a brand is virility; you need to gain recognition for the high quality of your product or service; being a popular business and owning a popular product will step by step turn you into a brand, especially if your customers base is getting bigger and you earned their trust.
In order to gain their trust, you have to be able to communicate with them properly. Treat your customers as a priority and meet their needs; this will help start building a strong relationship with them.
5- Be consistent and clear
Successful big brands are built on consistency. Their approach to marketing and business is carefully thought out, and all of their activities follow the same set of guidelines.
They are clear about what their business stands for and what their voice is, and that flows through everything they do. That voice and approach never change.
To build a successful brand for your business, you need to be clear about who you are, what you do for your customers and how you present that to the world.
