SEO BLOG

Brand image is more than a fancy logo or some cool ads.  It’s all you have in business.  Why?  Because it is how a consumer views your company.  Your brand is your reputation and that is why it is the most delicate and critical component of business in general.

Building a strong brand image takes time – it is something that should be formed over months and even years.  If you are looking for an overnight success story, you simply don’t understand brand image.  That isn’t how it works because you need the time to connect and solidify bonds with consumers.

How a consumer views you is not limited to digital interactions but includes all places your products or services might pop up.  This could be a storefront, the very packaging of your products and your sales/customer service.  Creating your brand relies heavily on you understanding who the target consumer for your product is.  For instance, your fitness drink isn’t for folks who go to the gym but for Peter, age 35, who is a single father who spends his day rushing from work to cooking dinner and ushering the kids to and fro between appointments and activities.  The point is to get as in-depth as possible about who your target buyer is and what their life looks like.  Not only does this help you form better products and hone your message to the correct demographic but it helps steer your entire marketing campaign and even how your sales funnel, customer service program and incentive programs are structured.

Not only do you want to understand your consumer but the very industry you are in.  Research competitors so you know what they are doing and how to improve upon areas in which they are lacking.  Never imitate them, simply understand how they built their brand in this niche.

Create a mission statement that you can live up to and follow wholeheartedly.  This statement is your Northern Star for your company compass.  It should help guide your marketing, communications and product development.  Figure out what value your product or service provides to consumer’s lives.  This is not simply a list of product features but what you can bring to the table over other products and what it can do for the consumer.

By understanding who your target audience is and what you stand for, you can create effective marketing campaigns, connect and be remembered.  Make sure this message comes through, in some way, in all of your communications.  Integrate this into your website, content, social media, email and PPC marketing.  Though nowhere near everything you need to do, through this research and company values you will begin to build loyalty among consumers and create a positive brand image.