Your brand is everything. It’s all-encompassing. It weaves together everything you and your people do in your company from the day your business is conceptualized. A coherent and consistent message in every component of your business is essential if you want to build a strong brand. Yet, consistency is the most common struggle we encounter with our clients when it comes to branding.
Is your brand identity clear in the materials you present to prospects and clients? How does the community view your brand? (Or do they even know who you are?) Does the sign on your door match the logo you’re using? Do your employees and your company culture reflect your values?
There are four primary components to branding and as a business owner, you should be keeping a close eye on every aspect of your brand.
- Employees. They are the living, breathing representation of your brand. Do your employees understand their role in representing the brand? From the uniform or logo on their shirt to being on the frontlines with clients, your employees should be on board with your brand and your message. They should show up every day ready to represent your company and your values. Every communication down to the reports they send out should be branded consistently. If you want your employees to represent your brand on social media, then enable them with the logos and information they need to do so. On the other hand, if you do not wish your employees to be connected with your brand online, then make a clear delineation in the social realm.
- Community. How do you show up in your community? Choose the charities you support as well as your public relations activities wisely. Live your brand and your values in your community. One of our clients Clean Sleep is a prime example of living out your brand. This company cleans and restores mattresses for individual people and commercial buildings such as hotels, student housing, hospitals and nursing homes. In the Dallas community, Clean Sleep partners with the Children’s Advocacy Center to donate and sanitize used mattresses for the shelter. Clean Sleep understands the difference a clean mattress can make for children who have very little to call their own.
- Prospects and referral partners. How do your prospects find you? How do you deliver your value proposition to potential clients? Through advertisements, social media, etc.? Sales and marketing should be working together to convert prospects into customers, with all the materials and presentations branded consistently during every stage of the process. Ask yourself: what message are your potential clients receiving? What impressions are they forming about your company?
- Clients. Be certain that the transition from prospect to client is consistent from a branding and messaging perspective. Don’t get so caught up in sales that you forget about the client experience. Oftentimes, there can be a disconnect in what a marketing team is selling and what the client services team is delivering. Your sales, marketing and client services teams should all remain in constant communication, so that your client services team is always aware of what your sales team is saying and doing. What did they sell? What messaging did they use? Communication is key across any organization.
How well is your company doing on the branding front? Could you use a hand creating or maintaining a clear and consistent message across every aspect of your business? Fuse Associates can help get the job done for you and ensure that everything — from your team to each and every piece of communication — accurately represents your company values. Give us a call today to learn more.
Read more on branding in this article.
