Your brand is your opportunity to tell your customers a story and we’ve highlighted some key statistics to help you do just that!
Branding is not just about the logo you design, the fonts you use, or the products you’re selling. It’s all of these things and much, much more. It’s the customer experience you provide. The values you embrace and the ethos you adhere to. A brand is a feeling that a business conjures in its customers. It’s what makes your business unique. And when it comes to an online business, branding is no different. Have you ever visited a website and been instantly confused? Maybe you weren’t sure what they were selling or what services they were offering. A lot of companies find it hard trying to explain what they do. Nobody wants to buy what they don’t understand. So; your brand strategy should guide what and how you are going to communicate with your customers.
As a business, you should strive to personalise your brand. You need to think about the value you provide to your customers. Your brand can help differentiate your business from its competitors. It can help set you apart and market your unique qualities.
But a brand isn’t something to be built overnight. It takes time. And more often than not, it needs a push in the right direction from you. That’s why we put together some pointers to help give your brand the push in the direction needed.
Your brand will profile your business, and how its viewed by your customers. There are many factors that shape your brand. So, if you’ve been curious about why branding matters, and what your customers think about it. Here goes!
Authenticity
In the age of authenticity brands need to get real if they want to connect with their audience. 88 percent of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brand names, they support (Stackla Report 2021).
Consumers want brands to be genuine. So, it’s not surprising that they expect the companies they buy from to be authentic in the way they present themselves and carry out their business. But brand authenticity is a relatively new concept, mainly pushed forward by millennials, who tend to be more vocal about what they expect.
This demand extends to Generation Z as well. Millennials and Gen Z consumers expect businesses to care about more than just profit. If they fail to see that from a business, they won’t hesitate to look for another that does. Brands can start being more authentic by being transparent and consistent in their branding and messaging. By having beliefs that they can stay true to, and, most importantly, by being honest. This way, they’ll be able to build long-lasting relationships with their customers and prospects.
Consumers Buy Based on Trust
When consumers buy from a brand, they are essentially placing their trust in them. In a survey, taken in the United States, 46 percent of consumers say they would pay more to purchase from a brand they can trust (Salsify.com, 2022). In fact, the percentage of consumers that feel this way is similar across most major Western markets. It’s safe to say that when brands build trust, consumers will reward them. This can be in the form of long-lasting relationships and sticking to the same brand no matter what. Consumers today care about more than just the product experience. They also have growing concerns about the customer experience that a brand promises and increasingly, about its impact on society.
In the long run, if a brand is able to build trust with its customers, it will gain their attention as well. So, as we saw with the first branding statistic, the same logic applies here. If brands are honest and authentic with customers, it’ll help build a trusting relationship.
Colour Matters for Brand Recognition
Colours matter when it comes to marketing. Choosing the right brand colours can impact how people perceive your brand. In fact, using a signature colour; the colour or colours you use to convey your brand image. Can increase brand recognition by 80 percent (Reboot, 2018).
Colour has a unique way of making you feel certain emotions. It’s for the same reasons that when colours are selected in marketing, they can have a far-reaching effect on consumer association with your brand. If you’re thinking about your brand image, and how you want to represent your business, you should use the right combination of colours to enhance your brand’s visual impact.
Let’s take a look at currently established brands. Take a moment and think about which brand you most associate with black and grey, or with the colour red. Did you think about Apple for the first one, or Netflix for the second?
We did too.
Use colour to your advantage to express your brand and if you’re wondering how different colours impact your brand. Have a look: (usbrandcolors.com)
First Impressions Matter!
It takes us a 10th of a second to form a first impression of someone. But we know that people are more than just first impressions. When it comes to your brand, it’s better not to risk it. It takes about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) for people to form an opinion about your website (8ways, 2019).
How many times have you come across a website and had the feeling that it hasn’t been updated for an age? We’re guessing quite a few.
If you’ve got an online business, it’s how you present yourself to people virtually. If you aren’t keeping it up to date the chances are you’re losing your customer’s attention.
So, what can you do to make sure you nail your brand’s first impression? To start with, make sure you carefully choose your colours, spacing, font, amount of text and structure. Think about the content on your website. Is it fully optimised or is there room for improvement? Are you happy with how your logo looks or how it’s positioned? Maybe you can make improvements to the images? Try to make sure people have a comfortable experience when they visit your website. Make it easy for them to search for what you have to offer. Keep things relatively simple. Make sure the time they spend on your website is enjoyable.
The Importance of Consistency
Brand consistency is making sure that your brand values, image, and messaging are consistent across all the channels you engage in. Including social media. Customers appreciate it when a business has a consistent brand. In fact, consistent presentation helps increase revenue by 33 percent (Lucidpress, 2019).
Consumers want to know your business, and the best way is through your brand. Keeping things consistent helps customers place you as a business, and makes it easier for them to remember you in the future.
When customers truly know your brand, they will be able to trust it. Employing brand guidelines to keep your brand voice consistent across all channels gives your customers a consistent experience. In a way, they’ll know and feel that your message is true because you’re sticking with it. This way, your customer will remember you. When they see your logo or your branding, they’ll know what to expect. To create a reputable identity, you cannot ignore brand consistency.
Having a strong brand will not only improve your chances of getting new customers, but also increase employee motivation, and provide your business with a unified direction. To succeed in building a strong brand image, you need to understand your customers. And in doing so, you need to personalise your brand. You need to think of your brand as something your customers can relate to and identify with.
Brand Transparency is the Key
With trust comes transparency, and vice versa. According to a survey, 66 percent of consumers think transparency is one of the most attractive qualities a brand has to offer (Accenture Strategy, 2018). This includes transparency in how and where a brand sources its materials, how it treats its employees, and what it cares about beyond its profit. People are increasingly curious about what happens in the boardroom, and we can’t blame them. Brand transparency has never been more important.
A Brand needs to be clear and authentic. If a brand simply supports a cause that they don’t feel that strongly about, it might end up being perceived by consumers as anything but genuine. Consumers don’t appreciate insincere attempts from brands to show that they care. Companies need to establish an emotional connection with their customers and be true to who they are as a business. That’s why transparency not only helps to maintain current customers, it also helps to attract new customers.
In the era where people tweet, leave reviews, and share all their thoughts with a click of a button, people can find out everything they want to know about a brand. This puts brands in an increasingly important position to embrace transparency.
Consumers expect Brands to care about Social Issues
Most consumers want brands to take a stand on social or political issues. As a matter of fact, 64 percent of consumers around the world said that they would buy from a brand or indeed boycott it solely because of its position on social or political issues (Edelman, 2019).
It also means that brands should not be vocal about matters that they don’t really believe in. As previously mentioned, it’s important to be realistic and transparent. Customers see through brands who are feigning their interest in social issues and will more than likely follow up on any promises that a brand makes—publicly.
Some brands might see this as a tricky situation, as taking a stand can mean alienating a certain group of consumers. But in the social era that we’re living in today, they also risk putting themselves in danger if they ignore the things happening around them. So, as we said earlier it’s important to be transparent.
Good Customer Service is a Stand out From the Crowd
With competition levels soaring, it always seems difficult to stand out. As a brand, you can take a few extra steps to make sure you’re being remembered for the right reasons. Offering a first-class service is a must. Surveys have shown that 73 percent of consumers cite the customer experience as an important factor in their purchasing decisions (PWC, 2018). Good customer service makes consumers feel valued and heard.
Customer service can include many different aspects of the buying experience. This could mean as a brand that you provide convenience, a friendly service, and approach customers in a helpful manner. You can go a long way if you add a human element to your service, by remembering your customer’s needs and customising your approach. But customer service doesn’t just end here. There’s an endless number of things you can do as a brand to meet this need. Too many to list here.
That said customers prefer it if you understand their buying habits and needs. Instead of just typing their names in the subject line of your emails, customise the experience by making the content feel tailor-made, you’ll have a higher chance of winning custom. The aim should be to personalise with a purpose and not just for profit.
Being Meaningful Is Good Business Practice
We’ve covered that it’s important for a brand to stand for something other than just profit. And here’s a statistic to back that up. 77 percent of consumers buy from brands that share the same values as themselves (Havas Group, 2019). The purpose of a brand is to make it easier for customers to make a decision. So, when building a brand strategy, it’s important to understand your target audience. Understanding what is important to them is the first step toward forming a meaningful brand.
You may be wondering, what makes a brand meaningful? A meaningful brand is defined by how much influence it has. This includes the impact they have on their direct customers, as well as the environment they operate in. The relationship between a brand and its audience has changed rapidly over the years. It’s no longer enough for a brand to care solely about its customers. In fact, brands also need to address what their customers care about. Customers want brands to be genuine and care about things that go further than just products or services.
Businesses need to work on making their brands more humane, by speaking in the way that most appeals to their audience. A great place to start is for brands to present their company and its values clearly to their audience. Maintaining a consistent brand image and messaging is important for customers to understand what the business stands for.
User-Generated Content is Crucial.
In most cases, influencer content has been declining in favour of user-generated content. Examples of user-generated content can be images, comments, reviews or videos. These are usually posted by users on online social media platforms.
In fact, 79 percent of people say that user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions (Stackla, 2021). This makes sense as consumers today have more ways than ever before to discover and research brands and products.
Increasingly, consumers are finding more ways to carry out their own research online by looking at what others have experienced and shared. Visual content is highly valued by customers when it comes to travel and dining experiences.
It’s also interesting to note that the same research claims that celebrities have less influence on consumer decision-making. Only ten per cent of customers consider influencers’ content to be authentic and just nine per cent say it impacts their purchasing decisions.
So, in Summary!
A brand is a story. It’s a feeling. A perception. But most importantly, a brand is what you create it to be!
Your brand should stand for what you and your business believe in!
Building your brand’s image and working on its strategy should be something you have in mind all throughout your journey as a business owner. Make sure that first and foremost you establish trust and authenticity through your brand. Let your brand convey your values and beliefs, and do it in such a way that your customers believe you. Make your story the one that counts. As a digital marketing agency B2B Somewhere Uncharted can help.
Bon Voyage!