Your brand is your identity as a business - and it needs to be strong, powerful and visible for anyone to notice you. You need to position yourself against a customer's many other options and a great brand helps you do that. That all sounds fairly reasonable but as a business owner, you probably need something a bit more tangible for you to devote a portion of your busy day to your brand. Let's take a look at how thinking about your brand can affect your business. 

Customer touchpoints

On average, a customer needs to experience 5 - 7 touchpoints before making a purchase. However, that number can grow exponentially once your audience decides to connect and buy from you (think of the number of touchpoints created by your website, shop sign, business cards, flyers, vehicle livery, billboards, uniforms, packaging - even your receipt can be branded!). If you have a brand that is misaligned or confusing, for whatever reason, and a potential customer doesn't recognise different touchpoints as you and your brand - you've missed out. If alternatively, your brand is dull or lacking in personality that the touchpoints don't register with potential customers, you’ve lost an opportunity to create engaging experiences with your audience. Marketing matters, but without a strong brand, your touchpoints won’t resonate with anyone.

Are you selling to the right people?

If you don't devote any time thinking about your brand, how can you know who your customers are and who your brand is appealing to? Devote some time to thinking about your business and the kind of customers it represents. It's always a good idea to start with customer profiles to give you an idea of the kind of clients you are aiming to sell to. Once you've done that, take a look at your brand as it stands today and put yourself in the shoes of your customers - would they like your brand? Would they buy from you? If the answer is no - it's time to reassess your brand and make it work for the people who matter most - your customers.

Do you know what you are selling?

In 2020, it is no longer enough to simply sell a product. There are so many options out there and whether you like it or not, you have competitors - and probably many of them at that. Up your game and start selling experiences as well as products. Stop thinking about why your customer would find your product useful, and instead ask how your product will change their life? What will it add to their world that they were missing before? Your business needs to offer far more than a product, and give your customer something to aspire to instead.

Developing the right brand not only enables you to focus on where you are needing to go, but also gives your customers a clear vision of what they are buying into, and who from.

Creating a strong brand isn't just about your customer - it's also about you. By building a brand with a great foundation, you will also get an idea of where your brand is going next. Choosing the factors of your business that make your organisation great will give you something to aspire to. If your brand is environmentally friendly, how can you seek to be even better at that in five years time? If your brand gives back to its community, what projects should you be getting involved in now, and what is the bigger aim as an organisation - maybe one day you might like to have your own foundation or charity? Deciding on your brand values will put your future into focus.