This is How you Help Customers Feel at Home with your Brand

So you’re consciously working on your brand?

AWESOME!

Here’s what you want to be sure of: your brand needs to be carried by the entire business, not just marketing. 

What do I mean with that?

Well, generally, when ambitious professionals decide to follow their own path and leave the fake safety of a job, they ‘know’ they need a logo, a website and a business card (to start with).

That’s great. But at the start of their entrepreneurship they usually have little notion of what it means to really build a brand. And that’s completely normal. When you start off, you need to discover what it means to have a business and be responsible for all processes. There is little room in their minds for conscious branding.

Luckily, after a few years, they realize there’s more to be done. More that CAN be done. “You should work on building a BRAND, not just a business!” may be the overall advice.

What’s a ‘brand’?

The question is… what the f*ck does that mean? Building a ‘brand‘?

Here’s what you need to know: your brand is an exchange of your business’ identity and the way the market perceives you. Experiences you, even. Yes, your brand is an EXPERIENCE! Much more than a product, logo, wording. Those are just the manifestation of the identity.

And well, ideally the identity and reputation overlap. If there’s too big a discrepancy between your brand’s identity and the way people perceive the brand, you’re doing something wrong in your positioning.

How you position yourself affects how people see you. And how you position yourself is NOT only a job for marketing.

Think about it…

The delivery guy who hands over the package to your customer? He represents your brand at the customer’s doorstep.

The new employee in the store? Represents your brand at YOUR doorstep.

The intern answering the phone? The sales rep? The receptionist? The IT wizard that walks by at the office? The HR employee recruiting a certain type of person?

They ALL need to make sure that the market (stockholders, clients, future employees) gets the right idea of who they are. Everyone in the business – no matter how big or small – needs to be on the same page. Your brand is carried by employees. That’s why employer branding is becoming a hot topic now.

The brand and the solopreneur

Are you ‘the organization’? As a solopreneur this is no different: you may be the strategist, the decision making unit, the marketer, the sales rep, the receptionist as well as the HR or purchasing exec, but in all cases you want to make sure your choices align with your brand.

Choose your suppliers consciously and when they represent your brand, teach them what’s important. Ensure a consistent experience every time your clients touch base with your brand. Pay attention to the details – even the décor of your office or the out-of-office in your email. Make it YOU.

This way you will create a business that embodies its brand. Its beliefs. Its values. Its message.

So yes:

1: Have a logo, a website, great copy, fabulous photography.

2: Even better: make sure they align and tell the story as a whole.

3: And align all business processes. Integrated branding, if you will.

It will make your tribe feel at home with your brand. And that’s the key to loyal customers. 🙂

Before I head off, know this: This is all a work in progress. It’s never done, it’s never perfect. Allow yourself to fuck up and get better.

Good luck!

 

xx Michelle