When I begin working with a new client, the first thing I do is ask them if they can define their brand for me. Why? Frankly, because it tells me how much work we have to do. If a business owner can tell me in clear language exactly what they offer, and to whom they offer it, they are miles ahead and we can hit the ground running. If they can’t give me that information, I know we have miles to go. And those miles not only take time, but they can come at a price.
The process of branding is, in a nutshell, aligning what your target audience wants with what you offer. It involves building out an ideal client profile, defining what unique factors set you apart from your competition, creating an identity (logo, colors, fonts), and then crafting a basic message that draws your customer to you as the exclusive answer to their needs. Your brand becomes a guiding principle and a foundation for everything you do in your business. In fact, a clearly defined brand can add efficiencies to your business in ways beyond marketing, and can save you real time and money by streamlining processes across your organization.
When you have a clearly-defined brand, you can save time and money by:
- Reducing employee turnover. Knowing your brand’s values and personality allows you to hire the right people and build training programs that clearly convey your values, cultures, and expectations.
- Implementing systems and procedures that reinforce your customer’s experience at every point of contact they have with your business, building their sense of confidence that you are, in fact, their ideal provider of your product/service, and building customer loyalty.
- Evaluating new products and services against your core purpose. Don’t waste resources trying to promote or support a product that doesn’t resonate with your target consumer.
- Alleviating the need to “start from scratch” with each campaign. A defined brand and identity allows your marketing specialist/provider to get your message right the first time, and ensures that it’s consistent every time.
- Providing laser focus on how and where to reach your target market. A fully-developed client profile tells you just where to spend your marketing dollars to reach your audience, and eliminate the costly mistake of “trying” the wrong media channel.
Imagine this. You have a team of employees that love their jobs, and require less management from your because they are proactive, empowered, and confident in your expectations of them. You, in turn, are certain that when a customer has a question or problem, that the message and service they receive will solve the problem and leave them satisfied, rather than creating more issues and potentially upsetting them further. The systems and processes on your back end are set up to create a consistent experience for all your clients. Your marketing efforts are bringing solid returns, because you’ve aligned your messages and promotions with channels that bring them right to your ideal customer. And, your stress levels have lowered because all your services and product lines are performing well. This, my friend, is what a business with a clearly defined brand can look like.
The biggest complaint I hear from clients when I ask them to undertake a branding exercise with me is that they just don’t have the time. As you can see above, a minimal investment in the process can have a significant return in time and cost savings.
If you’d like to find out more about how to clearly define your brand, schedule a 20 Minute Discovery Session with me and let’s talk about how you can start saving today!