4 Ways to Reinforce Brand Identity with Customers

­Brand identity is what separates your company from the rest. It is the reason people will come back again and again.

Design and Implement Your Brand

People’s memories are primarily visual. Yes, there are other aspects of your company that will stick in customers’ minds but you must have a visual component to your brand.

Your brand is more than your logo. That is important, but there are many other parts of building your brand.

You cannot use trademark protection to “claim” a color as Cadbury found out a few years ago, but you can still associate a particular color with your brand. You can become the company that springs to mind when people see “your” color.

Choice of color depends on the emotions you want to evoke in people. Most buying decisions are emotional, so it is essential to get this right rather than just to go with your own gut feelings.

There may be other companies in your niche that use similar colors to the ones you prefer, so it is essential to differentiate your brand from your competitors. Using unique secondary and tertiary color combinations is what you need to think about.

Once you have conducted research into the most appropriate colors for your brand you can then start thinking about your logo, stationery design and website.

Logo design can cost from $15 to $211,000,000. Graphic design is an expensive business, so a startup’s logo will go through several redesigns in the company’s first ten years as more resources can be allocated to this important brand-building image.

Your initial logo should use your chosen colors, be simple and remind people of your brand. It does need to be unique so you will need to employ a designer rather than use DIY modifications of clipart or public domain images.

Engage on Social Media

Social media sites allow you to talk with your customers. It allows conversations to develop, but these are usually public discussions, so it is absolutely essential to get the tone right. Social media engagement demands your most creative, tolerant and friendly staff members.

Lego’s Twitter campaign for their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pack was brilliant.

Gone are the days when companies should be just blasting out their latest news on Facebook and Twitter. Today’s consumer is unlikely to react positively to a crass advertising campaign. Rather, your social media input needs to entertain people in your target market. You need to find which social media channels your customers use and then to design an on-going campaign that is inspirational and which will create conversations.

Communicate Regularly

Your customers are busy people. They will forget about you very quickly, so if you want to develop a positive relationship with them you need to be there for them. You need to be there when they need advice or even just background information on a news item that is related to your area of expertise.

The key to one-on-one communication with your customers is to capture their email addresses. You can do this by offering regular newsletters that contain exclusive discounts.

For that end, you have to deliver responsive email templates through an email marketing service that provides responsive functionality to achieve maximum engagement with customers. You don’t want people unsubscribing.

According to GetResponse, more than 40% of your newsletter subscribers instantly delete emails if they are not optimized for their smartphones or tablets. To tackle this, opt for a use a non-technical solution to design attractive and responsive newsletters that adapt to the device they are viewed on.

Be Consistent Across all Areas

Your message needs to clear and unambiguous. Your branding should be consistent across your products, website, stationery, staff work-wear and vehicles because each channel gives you another chance to reinforce your branding message.

Consistency is more than colors used; it means training your staff to ask questions and to anticipate customers’ needs.

As an example of brand consistency, consider Linn, the Scottish audio equipment manufacturer. If you are put on hold you get top quality music played on Linn equipment rather than Greensleaves played electronically

Every company contact with a customer needs to give the same message regarding high quality and to be equally helpful. Make sure that your marketing campaigns reflect your core values and that all your staff are on-board.

Staff training in communicating with customers should be completed before any new campaign is started. Every employee needs to understand all your unspoken marketing messages so they do not contradict them when talking on the phone.

Over to You

Do your customers get a consistent brand image in their dealings with your company? How do you achieve that? Please share your thoughts in the comments below, would love to hear your feedback and suggestions!

Photo Credit: Cadbury Egg