Get your brand in shape for 2014.
One of the most effective ways to grow your business is to create and support a strong brand image.
A brand isn’t a logo or a sign, but what your business stands for in the mind of the consumer. In other words, a promise of what your customers can expect to experience when they choose you. Brands that become stagnant risk losing relevancy with their customer base. Times change, your customers change, your competitive environment changes and your brand message needs to keep pace with all those factors. Keeping your brand relevant over the years means asking yourself a few key questions about your brand.
1) Does my message and visual brand appear dated?
2) Has my target market changed? Have they become younger? Older? More wired? Etc.
3) Does my brand lack relevancy today? Is what my brand offers still what people want?
4) Does my brand promise fail to differentiate me from my competitors?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s probably time to update your brand or risk diminishing returns on your marketing investment.
The easiest way to revamp a brand is to contact a professional marketing firm. An advertising or marketing agency will most likely propose a brand audit. This process reviews the “health” of your brand through internal and external research to identify your strengths, weakness, industry shifts and market differentiators. This information will then be used to leverage any existing brand equity while redefining your brand messaging to better position your company to align with your customers wants and needs.
A relevant brand provides consumers a compelling reason to choose you over your competition, which is why keeping your brand in top-shape, may be the most important business investment you can make this year.
Next week’s topic – What’s all the buzz about Hummingbird?