A brand is created using a variety of different marketing messages, images and touch points to create an emotional connection and an impression in the minds of your customers. When companies have successfully connected with their customers and live and breathe every moment in support of that connection, is when a brand is created. - an emotional element connected to your company, its people, its process and all of its points in between that support that emotional connection. Here are 7 steps to creating a powerful brand.
Step 1: Assess your surroundings, market and audience
If branding is about making an emotional connection with your customers, the first step in branding begins with understanding your market and your customers.
Step 2: Create a compelling and unique brand promise
Once you understand your market and your buyer, the next step is to make a compelling promise to those customers. This will be the basis of your company and the point from which everything else will be created.
Step 3: Develop your outward identity
This is how the outside world will see the company. It is the image you create, the logo you design, the colors, fonts, messages and everything else in terms of your external image. This is called your brand identity.
Step 4: Develop a customer experience touch map
The next step is to identify every area within your business where your customer has an opportunity to experience your company and determine if that touchpoint supports your brand. There are three types of touchpoints; Product touch points which are the experience your actual product creates, System touch points which are the systems you use, both manual and automated such as your website, your catalogues, your invoices, your thank you page, your shipping/returns etc...... And your human touchpoints - you customer experience, your staff, your service partner ect..
Step 5: Train your internal team to deliver the promise
As leaders you must make sure that your team is delivering on your promise. You relationship with your customer is based upon trust and you achieve trust but delivering on your promises. So it is very important that you develop an internal system that your staff can execute.
Step 6: Translate your brand into creative communications
Now that you have identified your market and really understand what makes them tick enough to create a compelling promise to them that you and your team deliver on.... Including controls. Now it is time to develop a marketing strategy to get the word out about your products and services and create specific communications and messages that speak directly to your customers and attracts them to you like a magnet.
Step 7: Execute your brand strategy
The last step is pulling it all together and delivering on your brand every day... Once you get them in your doors and execute your touchpoint branding strategy delivering that WOW experience, you will convert them to loyal customers.
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Kellie D'Andrea is the creator of the BLAST Marketing System and teaches Marketing Mondays, a FREE Teleclass on Sales, Marketing and Business strategies to build your brand from the inside out. To sign up for this class or to subscribe to her FREE ezine The Marketing Edge, go to http://kelliedandrea.com/blog .
