Brand awareness matters. With about 75% of consumers trusting a company with positive reviews, it’s clear that even if a new customer hasn’t bought from you before, your brand’s reputation is important.
But what can you do to improve your brand image, and how do you know that your company branding is giving off all the right signals?
Businesses are always looking for ways to boost sales and developing brand awareness is one of the best ways to achieve this.
In this article, we explain why your brand reputation is important to your business, as well as give you seven actionable things to try. Read on to find out more.
The Importance of Branding
Customers are swayed by what your brand stands for. Your brand’s message needs to align with what appeals to your customers.
Brand reputation and image are important for several reasons, and if you don’t get it right, no matter how good your product or service is, if you get it wrong, then it’s likely to fail. Your brand image helps to
- Establish credibility and professionalism
- Makes an impression
- Increases referrals
- Easily recognized
Below are our 7 tips to improve your brand image:
1. Build a Recognizable Brand
One of the most important things to consider with brand building is how recognizable your business is. This is known as brand awareness. Customers should instantly be able to understand what your brand is, what product or service you offer, and what your company represents. Here are some things to consider.
Brand Voice
Is your business formal or casual, or do you give off playful or business vibes? All of these things relate to the tone of your voice.
It can differ slightly depending on which platform you’re using. For example, the tone in an email or printed adverts may be more formal than something on social media, but they should all have some consistency and be recognized as the same brand. Something to be aware of is that you’re using the same phrases and consistent keywords. If you’re outsourcing your branding awareness work, then be sure to provide a style guide to keep this consistent.
Brand Aesthetic
Just like your use of langued and tone of voice, your visuals, or aesthetics should be true to what image you’re trying to convey.
This includes things like brand colors, the overall look, and feel of your social media presence, and even down to the demographic of people you use. For example, a business that appeals to students, probably wouldn’t use formally clad millennials in their campaigns.
Brand Values
As well as defining the look and sound of your brand, it’s also important to define your values that are instantly recognizable.
Think about what you stand for as a brand. If you’re going for an ethical image, then one of your values could be that you use locally sourced materials for example.
Brand values should be present in your branding to build an association between what you stand for and the images and content you’re pushing out.
Ask yourself, do your brand values align with your potential customers?
Logo and Tagline
These are linked to your brand voice and the aesthetic content; however, they should be recognizable enough that customers know exactly what your company is about through the logo and tagline alone.
Are they instantly recognizable, and do they align with everything we’ve mentioned so far? If not, you might need to have a rethink.
If you’re not sure about the importance of a logo and tagline, think of Nike. What’s their tagline and logo? And how do they align with their brand? It’s worth putting thought into your brand’s logo and tagline as they will become synonymous with your company.
2. Tell Your Brands Story
As humans, we inherently love to tell stories. We take pleasure in hearing how someone overcame the odds or achieved something unimaginable. Your brand’s story tells the narrative of your business and how it evolved. People buy into people, and giving your brand a personality of how it came about gives it more authenticity.
This could be as simple as telling the story of a problem you had and the history of how you solved the problem, which then evolved into the business you have today.
Other ways of going about this are by combining your brand’s image with your mission statement. Every brand has a story, so playing on this makes your journey relatable and real-life to increase your brand image.
3. Think of the Value You Offer Beyond Your Product
Besides the product you’re selling, what else do you offer your customers? Why should they choose you over a rival business?
Resting additional value beyond your product is a great way of increasing your brand’s image. What other ways can you inform, educate, or entertain them to keep them engaged? This tactic is all about building a relationship with your customers.
They might not need your services right now, but being consistently on their radar means they are more likely to think of your company first when they do need it. It’s also a great way to enforce your company’s story and values.
4. Create Shareable and Interactive Content
This can easily be combined with many of the things we have mentioned already. It’s important to make your content easy to share and a way of getting your customers to do your promotion for you.
Things that do well as sharable content are infographics, how-to guides, and checklists in either .pdf or short-form videos.
Create appealing content that your followers will want to share. This is another solid reason for understanding the demographics of your customers.
Try not to make it look too salesy; however, it’s worth adding a subtle call to action if people want to find out more.
If you’re looking at ways to strategically improve your brand image, Avenue 25 could be the solution you’re looking for.
5. Actively Contribute to Your Community
Although the internet is one of the most popular ways to build your brand image, don’t dismiss offline opportunities too.
Depending on what your product or service is, find a way to get out in your local community to raise your profile. This could mean things like sponsoring events or making donations to a local cause that aligns with your company’s vision.
6. Run Competitions, Giveaways, or Offer a Freebie
Competitions are a great way to get existing and new customers involved while boosting your brand’s image.
It could be as simple as an online social media giveaway campaign, where customers have to tag themselves using your product in an innovative way. Get them to tag a friend for a bonus entry. This is an easy way to build our client base.
You might be able to run a collaborative competition with another brand, influencer or content creator where you’ll be able to tap into their audience too. For collaborations, be sure that both of your businesses have similar demographics and visions for the biggest impact.
Everyone loves a freebie or giveaway, and this could be a relatively cost-effective way of creating a buzz about your brand online. You could include a free sample or trial.
7. Understand Social Media Algorithms
Different social media platforms each have a different algorithm, and unfortunately, you can’t use a one-size-fits-all approach to each of them.
It’s also worth figuring out which platforms your target market uses. For example, if your demographic isn’t on TikTok, then it’s probably not worth investing too much time or effort into this platform.
Thankfully, if you’re using a scheduler for your social media posts, they will suggest the optimum time to post up content so that it hits your viewers at the best time.
In terms of the content that gets seen, around 15% of Facebook content has been regurgitated from the viewer’s Instagram feed. And of that, the algorithm will favor content that the viewer prefers to see.
To combat this, you’ll need to create a mixture of content in a variety of formats and across different platforms to find out what works for your customers. This can be a full-time job in itself, so you may want to hire a social media strategist who will work closely with your business to raise your brand’s awareness.
Are You Ready to Improve Your Brand Image?
Which of these actionable branding tips are you going to start using today to improve your brand image?
If you’re looking for more ideas, then check out our other resources on our site about building your brand, SEO, and social media tips.
