Lots of people, many entrepreneurs, and designers included think a “brand” is just a nice-looking logo. Wrong. A brand is about a lot more than simply a logo, or a stationery set, cool merchandise, etc. As a thought leader in the branding industry, we have accumulated some knowledge about what, exactly, goes into a successful brand that users truly connect with.
Share here in this article are 5 essential things we believe a brand needs other than a “strong” logo, which is also important, but it’s also sort of a given, right?
1. Clear Target Audience
When articulating the vision for your company’s branding, it’s important that you filter your ideas through the lens of your target market. After all, everything you build and do in your company should be done and designed in a manner to attract the types of people you aim to serve.
Your target audience can be defined by asking yourself questions like:
Who benefits most from our products or services?
What is the need or pain point that drives someone to seek out a company like ours?
What events or experiences make customers move forward with a purchasing decision?
Where would customers go to search for or seek out our products?
What type of person is most likely to recommend us to other potential customers?
These are just a few of the types of questions you can dig into to explore and understand the type of people you aim to attract. Once you have a clear idea of who you’re after, you can amplify your ability to connect with the customers you want through your company’s marketing.
2. Marketing Plan
With a target audience in place, the next piece to tackle is building a marketing plan that is focused on getting your products and services in front of those types of people and converting them into customers.
Every marketing plan should start with a clear goal in mind. Maybe yours would be to double your company revenue, or sign up 10 new customers a month, or sell more of a certain line of products. Whatever that goal is, outline it clearly and then develop a marketing plan with the intention of achieving it.
3. Optimized Digital Presence
Having a business website or social media page has become a norm in today’s era of online businesses, but it is important to note that not all businesses online are created equal. In order to maximize your search engine exposure, it’s key to develop a presence that is well optimized to show up when people look for you online.
In addition to optimizing your digital presence for search purposes, it’s also critical to optimize your pages on each platform around whatever actions you want your customers to take within it. Research shows that 90 percent of customers visit a company’s website as a first action, so it’s important to think about what you want them to do next when they get there—your customer journey.
Do you want them to sign up for a digital newsletter? Make sure that your site can integrate seamlessly with an email marketing platform.
Do you want your customers to be able to book online appointments? Make sure it’s easy for you to build in a calendar scheduling link. Should people be able to purchase directly through your site? Make sure it’s set up with streamlined eCommerce functionalities.
Whatever action you want your customers to be able to take online, make sure to build a site that’s designed around them so that you can provide an optimized web experience to your customers.
4. Performance Analytics
When building your business, it’s important that you make sure to put into place some key metrics or measures that you can reflect on to make sure your company is on the right track.
In the case of your branding, you’re going to want to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that help you evaluate if you’re resonating with your target audience and converting them into customers. You should put tracking into place around things like the number of inbound leads or inquiries, the number of new customers, your sales conversion rates, and the volume of website traffic to name a few.
The exact nature of your business will determine the most appropriate measures to be tracking. Similar to your marketing plan, your metrics and performance analytics should be based around a bigger goal for your company, and then you should measure what matters most when it comes to achieving it.
5. A Brand Built for Yours
Brand building is all about making a company memorable and accessible to the customers it aims to connect with by speaking its target market’s language. If this comes off as phony or artificial, people will pick up on it immediately, and the brand will be a source of ridicule. This is related to trust – people have to agree with your message and trust that you know what’s best for them.
Now, here is why you and your brand need aelustreNG. Get your brand into a relationship with aelustreNG to help you make meaningful first impressions and make your brand shine to the audience you want to attract. With clear business goals and these elements in alignment, you’re sure to stand out in your space and establish a customer base that feels truly connected to the brand you’ve built.
What Do You Think?
What else do brands need to have (other than a logo)? How important do you think it is for entrepreneurs and creatives to have a solid understanding of brand creation? Share with us.