What do Amazon, Apple, Starbucks, Facebook, Instagram, Coca Cola have in common? Apart from being successful, they have robust branding strategies that immediately makes them recognizable to customers. Just by looking at their logos, you know what to expect from the brand.
Have you ever thought of why branding is vital for your business? As per Cambridge Dictionary branding is, ‘the act of giving a company a design to advertise products and services’.
A logo is a brand; customer service is a brand; colors of the website is a brand. Branding is necessary because it gives a company an edge and distinguishes your company from competitors.
If you want your company to be as popular as the companies mentioned in the start, you need to take massive action for it.
There are countless benefits to creating a strong brand. Brand awareness, recognition, a boost in sales, and a loyal customer base is a few of them.
83% of the consumers say that they’ll recommend a business to others if they trust the brand. In another study, 89% of the consumers reveal that they would love to shop with a brand that shares their values.
This means that earning customer’s trust can keep your current customer intact and help you gather more leads through word of mouth.
This blog features four branding tips that will help you to earn trust among your customers:
1. Consistency is the key
Consistent branding efforts help in increasing the overall value of your brand by reinforcing your position in the market. Certain elements play a vital role in maintaining the consistency of your brand. They are:
Brand message: The messaging must reflect your brand values. The overall tone of your messaging shows how consistent you are as a brand. Do you want to display yourself as a reliable, dependable, and helpful brand? If so, you need to focus on the image that you are giving away to your clients.
Logo: Logo is one of the most vital elements of branding. Talk about the power of logos, and you’ll realize that all big brands are recognized by their logos. Thus, having a professional logo design is essential for your business as it is the first step to etch your brand into the customers’ minds.
Communication: How will you communicate with your customer? With tons of social media platforms out there, you need to stick with the ones that your audience use. Making it easier for customers to communicate their concerns will increase the goodwill of your brand. Listening to their experiences will help you improve your products.
The panaceas to all your worries are branding companies like Logo Design Valley. These companies have the expertise to ensure that every branding element of your business, from logo to web design are consistent and in line with your brand values.
2. Publishing Customer Reviews
A report by Nielsen found that 92% of the consumers trust a product recommendation from a friend and family
Regardless of your marketing or advertising, consumers will always trust other consumers instead of an ad on TV or social media. That’s why you can use the audience’s testimonials and reviews to earn the trust of your consumers.
If you run an e-commerce store, there is a good chance that customer reviews will determine whether a website is trustworthy or not. They will judge your product or service by seeing good or bad reviews on the website.
The same goes for a service-based business. If there are not enough reviews, you can always ask previous customers to write a review regarding your service.
Regardless of whichever approach you use to earn reviews from a customer, other customers will only feel comfortable when they see other customers using your service.
3. Tell Your Brand Story
There is no way consumers are interested in your annoying sales pitch. They want to know more about your brand’s story. They want to know that your brand is authentic.
Authenticity comes from your values, goals, and message that you put out there for people. It is about responding to negative feedback with a promise to resolve the issue. When companies fail to respond to consumers on social media, sales drop by 15%. Don’t make this mistake.
More importantly, authenticity is about telling stories about your brand. Stories that will engage customers and help in building a strong bond with them.
A good story will develop a compelling narrative of your brand. Take the example of Nike. A brand that wins whenever it comes to telling a heart-touching story.
In their campaign with the champion golfer Tiger Woods, a child Rory McIlroy is shown who has looked up to his hero Tiger Woods since childhood.
The whole story is built around the kid growing up and finally meeting Tiger Woods; it is when you see the famous slogan, “Just Do It” and realize who is telling the story.
Sales pitches might attract a customer logically, but compelling storytelling will engage the customers with emotions. They’ll prefer you over other brands because they trust your story, your product, and your service.
4. Be Transparent & Deliver Your Promises
You can waste thousands of dollars in advertising your business. You can create a video that goes viral on YouTube, or you can market your product to the masses, but everything will be in vain if you don’t deliver your promises.
This is an age of social media where messages travel faster than fire. If you upset one customer, there is a chance that this customer can trash your reputation on social media.
That’s why it is necessary to stay transparent at all times.
Treat every customer as a VIP. Listen to their problems and resolve their issues. If you cannot fix it immediately, tell them when you’ll get back to them with a solution.
Customers will start trusting you once you start delivering what you promise to them.
Bottom line
In the end, it is worth mentioning that for you to earn the trust of customers, you must brand your product strategically. Branding is the easiest and fastest way to build trust among your audience.
In an age where businesses find it challenging to earn the trust of a customer, branding can help you make the process easy for you.
About the Author
Alma Causey is a freelance writer by day and sports fan by night. She writes about fashion and tech. Live simply, give generously, watch football and a technology lover.
