5 Branding Tips to Give Your Business an Edge
Your brand is what distinguishes you from competitors in your industry, so how can you give your business the edge?
In a busy industry with plenty of competitors, you might find it difficult to stand out from the crowd. One of the simplest ways to stand out is with your branding. The experts here at Packaging Supplies know plenty of branding tips to give your business an edge over competitors. Read on to discover our top five tips!
Expert Branding Tips to Give Your Business an Edge
1. Identity
So many businesses make the mistake of thinking that branding starts with a logo or a name. In reality, it starts with you and your “why”. It’s easy to forget your business story because you know it so well, but don’t underestimate the importance of letting your customers know why it is you do what you do. Your brand identity starts with your values, not your logo. Write a strong mission statement and check in on it often to make sure you’re connected to your goals. This automatically gives you the edge over other brands that, all too often, focus on the “what” and “how” of their businesses, having lost sight of the ‘“why”.
Customers connect strongly with a brand with heart, so share your values with the world. This will give your business an edge over others in your industry that don’t show their personalities and, therefore, seem less personable to potential customers. A great example of this is sustainability. If you feel passionate about ensuring your business is green, you should proudly communicate that to your customers. When your values line up with that of your customers, they will identify with you and be more trusting of your brand. If you’ve put the work in to source eco-friendly packaging for your business, tell your customers why that was important to you.
2. Authenticity
If you’re a small business, it can be tempting to pretend you’re bigger or more established than you are. Lots of brands get caught up in their perception of what they think a customer wants them to be, rather than presenting a truly authentic brand. Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean your branding can’t be big! Being small, local or independent is a great selling point and, if you’re not authentic about those things, you’ll miss out on having that as part of your brand story.
Similarly, if you have a huge business and have outsourced work or opened multiple sites, don’t be afraid to share that with your customers. It forms your brand identity and creates open and honest conversations. If you’re authentic from the start, your customers will want to go on your business journey with you, which makes for a loyal and supportive community. If your audience knows you, you’ll get to know them better.
3. Communication
In the list of branding tips to give your business an edge, communication is your most valuable tool. To strengthen your business, your communication should be strong with both your staff and your customers. If you’re communicating your values and vision with your audience, your staff should be familiar with them too.
Great communication with your customers is the best way to build a strong relationship and shape their perception of your brand. Establish your target audience and nurture that relationship with great customer service through building connections. By prioritising communication, you can more effectively gauge what kind of branding strategies and content marketing your customers will respond best to. Open communication will help manage your clients’ expectations and, ultimately, result in a positive customer experience.
Nurturing relationships is not limited to your customers and you should be doing the same through excellent communication with your staff, too. Once you’ve established your identity you should be sharing that with your employees so that they can buy into your “why”. Only when we have a full understanding of a brand, can we become fully invested. If your staff have the insight into your “why”, then they will be able to share in your passion for the business. Enthusiastic, invested staff will give your business the edge over competitors that don’t include their teams in their vision.
4. Consistency
Great branding is synonymous with consistency. Choosing a consistent colour palette for your business, particular fonts and setting a clear style guide will help your brand to become recognisable. You want to be the first business in your industry that customers think of when they need a certain product or service. The repetition of consistent branding will help make sure you’re at the forefront of their minds. Consider some of the world’s most recognisable logos, they are identifiable from the brand’s colours alone. As part of your branding strategy, you want to ensure that you have a consistent brand image across your website and social media platforms to give you that competitive edge. The same applies to your product packaging. Your customer should be able to buy multiple products from you, on separate occasions, but easily identify your branding across the board. This previous blog of ours helpfully explores how to create business identity with brand packaging solutions.
Consistency doesn’t just benefit the visual aspect of your branding, it should also translate to your processes. Remember how we talked about managing customer expectations in communication? Well, making sure your business provides consistency in its service will improve the overall customer experience. Having clear and strong systems in place means new and existing customers will have the same encounter with your business. Knowing what to expect helps reduce a customer’s uncertainty when it comes to buying from your brand. Establishing a pattern like this will create a feeling of familiarity and trust.
5. Reputation
The branding tips above will contribute to the reputation of your business. All businesses want to establish a good reputation in their industries, but focusing on the smaller elements that ultimately make up your reputation will give you the edge over a competitor that is too focused on the bigger picture. This is why it’s important to frequently check in with your values and your mission statement, to make sure your reputation aligns with the brand you set out to be.
Reviews are the most frequent, direct feedback you’ll get from your customers and if your business has provided a consistent service with great communication, your reviews will reflect that. This article examines a recent study that showed reputation was consistently ranked by corporate leaders as their most valuable asset. Following these branding tips will not only emphasise your identity as a brand, but also the customer’s experience of you as a business. By prioritising your values, your reputation will be authentic and a true reflection of your brand.
To explore your options for branded packaging, get in touch for a Free Product Packaging Quote.