Do you believe in love at first sight or are you more of a “grow into love” type? Whichever side you fall on; there is one common denominator… love.
Building a brand can sometimes resemble a potential suitor being pursued into a love affair. Whether the suitor knows it or not, he/she is being pursued and the efforts of the pursuer have a considerable influence on whether the efforts result in a romance of a lifetime or a blooper.
Let’s go into how you can build a brand that people fall in love with.
To start it is essential to have a product or service that is terrific value for money, easy to use, delivers on all its promises and is easy for your target audience to find. Once all those basics are covered, you can go into pursuit mode…
1. Build an attractive brand.
It might seem obvious that your brand needs to be attractive to your customer, but many entrepreneurs assume that because they think their brand is attractive; so will their customer- False! Brand proposition, packaging and the customer experience are the basics to get right to catch your audience’s attention.
- Brand Proposition
The way your product looks, or your service is delivered should be a direct reflection of your brand promise. Like most relationships, brand trust is built through consistency over time. It is important that you keep your look and feel consistent with your brand promise over time and to speak the same message across all platforms for it to be effective.
- Packaging
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It is important that your packaging speaks directly to the aesthetic needs of your target audience. If you don’t know what would entice them to you- ask! Get a few mock-ups and ask representatives from your target audience what they would change and what would lure them to your brand.
- Customer Experience
Create a unique experience at every opportunity. Use all interactions with your customer as a chance to reinforce the values, character, personality and ambitions of your brand in an authentic way.
2. Build brand that people aspire to.
For your brand to stand out, your target audience must believe that it is special and different. With that, they must believe that they are also special by associating with it.
There are two elements that can help you get this right:
- Collaboration
Partner with other brands that share the same values and aspirations as yours. In this way, all parties can leverage from a similar audience, reinforce your brand promise and service their mutual customer more completely.
- Distribution
Be very selective of where you place your brand as well as how you price your product or service. Where your brand is made available becomes a reflection of its values and how it is priced creates a positioning in the audience’s mind. These are factors that should not be taken for granted as they determine whether there will be a sale or not.
3. Understand your customers needs
Many would attest to the need to be understood. There’s also something special about being associated with a brand that one feels understands their needs and delivers in a way that suits their requirements and circumstances.
There are two things you can consider improving your knowledge of your customer and be better able to service their needs.
- Customer Research
This may come across as a big exercise that needs focus groups, long questionnaires and analysts- but fortunately it is not. All you have to do is ASK what your customer wants and what it would take for them to consume your product or service.
- Price
There is a value that customers place to what they buy, and that value is reflected in how much they are willing to pay for it. The better you communicate your value; the higher the premium you can charge for your product or service because they understand what they are buying and why they must pay for it.
Like in romance, there are a myriad of factors to consider before reaching the desired result, but we can’t go through them at one go. This is a good place to start though…
Dimakatso Moloantoa is #ThatMarketingLady, she is the Founder of Amari Marketing and Communications; a company with a focus on supporting Small and Medium Enterprises in the pursuit of entrepreneurial success. For more information check out the link below of send her an email.