Just like with any human relationship, a brand is organic and grows with you and your customer, we sometimes neglect and take our brand for granted (sound familiar?!), so sometimes we need to start building that relationship again.... and give it a little love and attention!
Have you ever thought of reviewing your brand relationship, to find out if it's in need of some extra loving?!
CORE VALUES
Building your brand around your core values allows you to grow a business from the heart. Core values are the beliefs that you as a company stand for and they serve as the compass that guides your brand story.
A useful exercise (possibly with a partner or team) is to write down some sentences or keywords that you believe your brand stands for, this should express what your business believes in and it's guiding principles. Think about, or discuss, each sentence or keyword and refine. Have these changed over the years? Are you now heading in a different direction?
IDEAL CUSTOMER
Doing some market research is always a fab way of achieving a deeper understanding of who your target audience is. A great way of doing this is to ask within a local Facebook or Linkedin group if they can spare half an hour with you to answer some research questions. If your ideal customer has changed, it may be time to consider updating your branding to fit your customers better.
TONE OF VOICE All your content should have the same distinct and recognisable tone of voice. Is your tone of voice still relevant and up to date? Does it reflect your brand personality? Cross check against your core values and your ideal customer, should your tone of voice be lighthearted and fun or more traditional and sophisticated?
ARE YOU 'ON BRAND'
Does your brand's visual identity (logo, fonts, images, colours) still reflect your business, your audience and your brand personality? Is your branding timeless? Can it still go the distance? Or was it a trendy design at the time and you've organically outgrown the look? Is it time for a new photography shoot? Are your stock images reflecting your brand, your audience and diversity? I've had many clients tell me they've stopped communicating on social media as they're embarrassed by their branding.
BRAND CONSISTENCY
Customers trust brands they recognise, if you show up randomly and inconsistently you're adding a mental obstacle for your customers who may subconsciously believe you're unpredictable. By sticking with the same colours, fonts and image style on all communications you’ll find customers will begin to associate your colours paired with your fonts and your style of photography as your brand. Check all your communications across your platforms, have a few extra fonts and colours snuck in along the way which could result in your branding looking cluttered and possibly erratic?!
Regularly reviewing your overall brand and giving it some love and respect will reflect positively in your marketing and communications. This will help you connect on a more targeted level with your ideal customer. Drop me a line as I would love to hear how you get on with your brand review.
Unsure How to Give your Brand Some Love?
I can hold your hand through this process with my Brand Boost audit, we'll hop onto Zoom together and I’ll highlight areas that may not be working for you. I’ll offer brand advice, help point you in the right direction and action points for you to take away to improve and give some love to your brand!
