The internet has effectively upended how we engage with a brand or an organisation. And thanks to the prominence of digitisation, the core economics of marketing has transformed as well. Hence, in such a period, doing business in the old way has become unsustainable.
Consider this –
There was a time when a car buyer would pare down the available choices methodically until they found the best possible option. Then, they’d go to a dealer who’d reel them in and sell the vehicle. And the relationship between the seller and the buyer would dissipate after that.
However, it doesn’t happen in today’s world.
Now, the audience has become quite promiscuous regarding their brand relationships. In the beginning, they’ll connect with a host of brands and evaluate their persona. After that, they’ll try to narrow down the list by opting for someone who meets their criteria.
Besides, even after completing a purchase, they’ll want to stick with their selection for the foreseeable, as they “trust” the brand.
Due to this reason, branding has become an essential part of marketing in the digital world. And in this article, we’ll tell you just how to up your strategy. But, before that, let’s talk about the challenges you might face while brandishing your branding game.
The Achilles Heel Of Branding – Five Things To Be Careful About
If you’re a budding entrepreneur, the prospect of design branding can seem quite confusing to you. Hence, if you drive headfirst into the wall, you may mess up your tactical plan before even implementing it for your purpose.
Thus, before you start working out a strategy, you’ll need to learn about the obstacles you may face in the long run. Let’s keep reading, then.
Challenge – 1: Treating Brand As An Asset
Sometimes, when you’re trying to make a quick profit from a trend, you have to treat your brand as an asset. However, in some cases, focusing on such a short-term financial target can make you come up with a brand new strategy. And, if you fail, the idea of making a profit in the favourable season will go down the drain.
Challenge – 2: Creating One Or More Subcategories
When you’re trying to grow, having a single brand won’t be adequate enough. Instead, you must develop one or more innovations to create something different from your competitors. However, we’re talking about making a huge change here, and many brands are unable to adapt to such a shifting situation. It can be due to the lack of workforce or resources.
Challenge – 3: Having A Compelling Vision
As mentioned before, you have to differentiate yourself from the market to get the required attention from your target audience. Thus, for that, you’ll need to have a compelling vision and execute it as expertly as possible. This can include the concept of brand personality, the value of your organisation, and much more.
Challenge – 4: Coming Up With A Creative Idea
Branding design is all about being creative while resonating with your audience. It’s also vital to appear as “something different” and stay ahead of the pack. If you don’t put a little bit of inventiveness at the heart of your branding, you won’t be able to leave a lasting impression on your audience. This is yet another prospect where most people tend to lack a lot.
Challenge – 5: Fast-Forwarding The Process Of Branding
Honestly, the branding procedure is pretty convoluting. Thus, it’s pretty easy to get lost in the process. In some cases, you may also feel tempted to skip a few steps and speed it all up. But, making haste isn’t really ideal when you’re building your brand from scratch. Instead, you’ll need to follow a step-by-step process and stick to it. Consistency is the key!
Flourishing In The Branding Game – Where Do You Start?
According to the branding designers, you should always focus on creating a no-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to branding. Still, you must follow some universal practices to get started with the game. Here are a few of them.
Tip – 1: Focus On Your Target Audience
If you’re trying to build up a certain audience base, your branding should be rigid and more focused on a specific segment. Hence, before you even get started, you should perform thorough research on your consumers.
Consider talking to them online or evaluating their buying behaviour before solidifying your branding concept in the same fold. As mentioned, the branding of your organisation should resonate with your audience. Otherwise, it won’t leave a lasting impression on them.
Tip – 2: Project A Strong Brand Voice
Once you’ve identified your audience, you should start forming your brand identity right away. Give your consumer base something to remember you by – like a brand voice.
Many corporations try to work in this aspect by being humorous, while others follow a more persuasive tone. But, no matter what you’re doing though, be sure to maintain consistency.
However, just to give you an idea – when you’re writing a blog to promote your services, being a little persuasive won’t hurt you. But, when you’re dealing with your social media, be sure to try a little humour to woo your audience.
Tip – 3: Research Your Competition
If you’re experiencing a creative block, running through your competition’s branding and how they’re charming their audience can be helpful.
Just make sure that you’re not imitating them, and you’ll be fine.
While you are researching, try to focus more on how they’ve designed their logo and the colour they’re using for the front. When you’re working on the same, make sure to use the hue that expresses your brand voice perfectly.
For example, if you’re going for a youthful approach, using green colour should be perfect for you. Conversely, if your branding is all about being conservative and predictable, blue would be the hue you should be targeting.
Mould Your Branding Into An Air Of Refreshment!
When you’re working on your branding, you should always focus on maintaining consistency on every front – whether it’s your website or social media.
Also, while you’re at it, remember to create a proper social media strategy for your purpose. The more you tell people about your brand, the easier it’ll be for you to make an ever-lasting impression on your audience base.
Nonetheless, as mentioned, branding isn’t going to be an easy-going process for you.
Hence, if you’re looking for an extra hand to take some burden off of your shoulder, don’t forget to contact Percept. They’re very efficient on this front and, therefore, can suggest to you all the right aspects without making a single mistake.
Yes, you may have to invest a little more money going forward. However, at least you’ll be able to sleep peacefully at night by giving the responsibility of something as important as branding to a market-leading expert.
