5 Ways to Build A More Valuable Brand

5 Ways to Build A More Valuable Brand

What comes first the business or the brand? Do you develop your business with branding in mind or focus on building your brand after?

With the economy resurging and more businesses starting to flourish, customers have more options. The competition is fierce and businesses that build a more valuable brand are winning.

Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos says that:

A brand is the promise, the big idea, the expectations that reside in each customer’s mind about a product, service or company.

Good branding is being a category leader for your product or service. Great branding is about adding value to the lives of consumers.

Here are 5 ways to build a more valuable brand for your business…

5 Ways to Build A More Valuable Brand

I’ll start in reverse order.

5. Be More Convenient


Convenience is critical to your sales and very important to your brand. Limiting the barriers your customers encounter before purchasing will ultimately increase sales and decrease purchase abandonment.

So, building a more valuable brand means increasing the distribution or presence of your brand.

For instance, having physical retail locations, website, mobile app, and independent representatives to service your clients helps your brand be more convenient.

progressive facebook cover

A great example is Progressive insurance. The company offers services via independent insurance agencies, call centers, websites, mobile apps and something called…Snapshot?

Ultimately, establishing many distribution touch points will increase the possibility of a valuable connection with your brand.

4. Be More Personal


One way to establish an emotional connection with customers is to personalize your brand messaging. This is done successfully when you consider your customers’ behavior and what campaigns trigger emotions.

I recall seeing people posting pictures on social media of Coke cans and bottles with their name imprinted on the label.

Good move Coke!

You had everyone from health enthusiasts to vegans’ posting your product on social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUW1IcoFNbQ

This campaign epitomizes the notion of ‘connecting your brand with your customer’.

So, how can this help you?

Try taking a page from Coke’s playbook and see how you can incorporate your customers into your products or services.

As the old adage goes: “we buy from people we know and like”. Being more personal is the first step.

3. Be More Social


If you have read my previous posts, you’ll notice a recurring theme: It pays to be social.

Let’s face it, if you are not actively engaging in social media, your brand is suffering.

Brands that understand the importance of being social are naturally perceived as being valuable.

Now let’s take this a step further.

Brands that are actively involved with social issues can be perceived as valuable because customers understand the value of their purchase.

They see how their patronage helps your cause.

A good case study is Toms shoes. They sell shoes on the premise that for each pair purchased another pair is given to a child in need.

2. Be Beautiful


In today’s highly visual world, consumers are accustomed to seeing beautiful images associated with your brand. When building a valuable brand, it is critical to align your brand images to the most current trends and styles.

The more beautiful your images, the more valuable your brand is to customers as they’ll naturally resonate with your brand messaging as a result.

Additionally, you should check the appeal of your offer to see if it’s still relevant to your customer base.

For instance, the first time I saw mini water bottles in the grocery aisle, I instantly got excited.

Mini-Water-Bottles

I mean, come on, who really drinks a whole bottle of water in one sitting.

This is a great example of how to adapt your product offering to appeal to customers.

So, if you want to make your brand more valuable, see how you can update your product or service offerings.

1. Be A Part of A Rising Category


Lastly, one of the best ways to create a valuable brand is to be a part of a rising category.

If you wish to quickly expand your brand into these burgeoning categories you should consider acquisitions, partnerships, licensing and/or co-branding for your brand.

fb-oculus

Facebook is a great case study.

To stay valuable to users is has acquired Instagram and Oculus and attempted to buy Snapchat for $3 Billion.

Now some of you may not have the bandwidth to acquire such companies but you should understand the strategy behind Facebook’s efforts.

Final Thoughts


Building a more valuable brand takes time and effort along with a great strategy.

You must make your brand more convenient to customers, personalize your product offerings, be more social and expand your brand into flourishing markets.

Whether you’re an emerging or established business, building a valuable brand not only affects customer perception but can affect your profits.

Sources:

https://hbr.org/product/Innovation-at-Progressive/an/602175-PDF-ENG
http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/share-a-coke/share-a-coke.html
https://www.marketingtechblog.com/toms-cause-marketing/
http://ourbestbites.com/2014/01/snowman-party-printables/mini-water-bottles/
http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/21/facebooks-acquisition-of-oculus-closes-now-official/

Written by
Juntae DeLane

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