5 FREE and EASY ways to Strengthen your Brand

5 FREE and EASY ways to Strengthen your Brand...

Many people don't realise, but when it comes to their business, their brand is THE most valuable asset they own!

Your brand is so much more than a logo, colours and fonts.
As Jeff Bezos, Executive Chairman of Amazon states:

"Your Brand is what other people say about you when you're not in the room"

Many small businesses that I work with have spent a lot of time on how their brand *looks*. But not on how their brand makes people feel. Or the values they want to bring.

This is a real shame, and it could be hurting their bottom line. Because, did you know that 89% of customers choose to stay loyal to a brand that shares their values?

And 77% of people refer to certain items by brand names:
Bandaid, Xerox, Hoover, Chapstick, Jacuzzi or Velcro anyone?

If you consider your own consumer decisions:
Are you more likely to buy an iPhone or Samsung?
A Nissan or Audi?

Regardless of which brand you choose, I bet you will have opinions based around these brands. And so does everyone else...
We all have brand preferences and biases.

This is why, as a business, our brand identity matters so much. Because your brand identity is what gives your brand value and appeal to your customers, over your competitors brands. Or not, as the case may be...

Here are 5 ways to improve your brand identity, so you can create a recognisable brand of value:

The fastest way to decide what you want people to think about your brand is to:

• Grab a sheet of A4 paper and a pen
• Write the name of your business in the middle
• Set a timer for 5 minutes and brainstorm all the things you want people to think or feel about your brand.
• Then, get another sheet of paper, set a timer for 5 minutes and brainstorm actions you can take, or tweaks you can make to cause this to happen for you.

Then, of course, for this to be of benefit, you have to go forward and take the action required to ultimately help you strengthen your brand.

Great places to display your brand values include your About page on your website, your email nurture sequence, your social media profiles, and your social media content.

• How does your brand look?
• Has the look of your brand been designed with your target market in mind?
  e.g have you used colours and fonts that will appeal to them?
• Is it consistent across all platforms - e.g. presentations, website, social?

Making sure you have a Brand Style Guide, then only ever using the same colours and fonts is one of the quickest, most affordable and easiest way you can cause customers to recognise your brand at a glance.

Communication is a vital ingredient to leaving a positive impression and strengthening people's experience with your brand.

It's also a MAJOR reason that relationships between businesses and customers fall down.

It's best not to make the assumption that your clients or customers are clear on the process of buying from you, or the progress of their order. But, how can you provide exceptional communication and customer service?

Great news is that you can automate a lot of communication these days to make things scalable for you. So, all you need to do, is sit down with a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm what your customers will need to know at each point in their customer pathway, and set to work building that out.

(Stuck for how - my Sell Without Selling course helps brainstorm this out at a high level. Or, we teach how to build out detailed customer nurture pathways in my signature Flight Club program.)

89% of consumers make the effort to look up reviews prior to making their purchasing decision.

Making it part of your process to ask for reviews, can therefore really help build the strength of your brand. Particularly if you use your customer reviews in your marketing, and across your website, to help you build credibility with your consumers.

Reviews can be another thing that help you stand out from your competition. Or not...

I don't mean in regards to swearing, but in terms of your brand voice...

Your brand voice, is one of the biggest ways that helps people get to know your business, shows people if they can trust your business, illustrates how you value them as customers and if you share their values.

Every time you communicate anything, across any platform, people are watching, listening and forming opinions.

Sometimes what you don't say, is even more powerful than what you do say...

In this world of "cancel culture", it's even more important than ever to watch your language so that you can protect your brand.

We've all see people be canceled for things they've said. JK Rowling or Rachel Hollis are two that I can think of off the top of my head. 

So, how you respond to negative reviews matters. If/how you share your views on world events, the environment or politics matters.

Because this is something that affects your brand value and perception so much, it's important to put thought into what, and how you speak...

It's ok to polarise people. It's ok to turn people off your brand. It's ok to be polarising. Because your brand will never please everyone. And if you try to write/show up like you want to please everyone, your brand voice will be so vague and generalised that it will most likely appeal to no one.

That's why, it's important to consider and be protective with your language, so that you can show up in a strategic way.

There you go - there are my 5 easy ways to strengthen your brand without spending a dime, or hours having to create.

Which one is your favourite?
Have you got any to add?