What’s your story? Do you have one? Is it consistent and relevant? Without having a strong consistent brand/story developed for your organization all of your other marketing campaigns will fall short. Many organizations become so excited about launching new and exciting marketing strategies they overlook the importance of building this important foundation first.
Just like life, you need to know who you are before you can attract others. Building a brand is more about a snappy logo or catchy slogan. Building a brand is about telling your customer a story about who you are, what you believe in and why they should trust you. If you developed a strong business plan you should already have this information written down, if not follow these steps to get going in the right direction.
1) What is the goal of your business/service/product? This should have nothing to do with sales or your personal profit/success. This should have everything to do with how your business can make your customer’s life better. Why in the world, with all the many products and services out there, would your customer benefit by choosing you?
2) What makes you unique? Why would your customer choose you over the 15 zillion other ‘yous’ on the market?
3) What personality do you want to convey? Make your business human. People like working with other people, not other things…why do you think everyone moans when they have to navigate through a computerized ‘customer service’ phone answering service, or stand yelling at the ’self-check-out’ computer at the grocery store. Person to person interaction is always a better experience. Develop a personality for your business and keep it consistent in everything you do. It could be your personality, it could be one you make up….have fun and always consider what will best appeal/resonate with your target audience.
You can learn more about branding at this month's Girls Night Out on 2/25!
