It can be easy to get distracted in normal day-to-day business activities. After all, the upkeep of daily operations is one of the biggest challenges and priorities for business owners. Before you know it, six months turns into two years, two years turns into five years, and suddenly you begin to notice that your competitors are getting more traction than you are. What went wrong?
Branding is a key marketing element that goes in and out of style very quickly in both the digital and physical realm. What was important, popular, or trending five years ago may not always be the case in the present day. Staying up-to-date with your brand is on the back burner for most businesses, especially small businesses that don’t have the capacity to keep up with the evolving landscape. At Webspec, we understand that elevating your brand can be difficult. That’s why, we’ve created an easy step-by-step guide to get your brand, and your business, back on track.
1. Bring Your Brand Identity Into This Decade
Visuals are incredibly important when it comes to engaging your audience. As humans, we are drawn toward visually appealing shapes, colors, and styles. But the “kicker” about visual appeal is that specific trends go in and out of style all the time. What might be a really popular font choice or color palette right now may look tacky or “out-of-touch” five years from now. When you’re auditing your brand appearance, focus on classic elements—timeless design will never go out of style, but it is important to make sure your brand still looks updated to the modern era.
Come up with a list of brands you love and your competitors. What do they do well with their brand design? What do you dislike? Do they use any of those classic design styles? Take notes and work with a trusted digital designer who can bring your brand’s new vision to life. Then, you’ll be ready to crush your business goals with a brand look that is fresh and unique to you.
2. Align Your Brand Values To Your Current Business Goals
What may have been important to you in the past, might not be the case now. When most people think of branding they think of logos, colors, and fonts. However, your brand is much more than that. It encompasses all of that plus your voice, tone, values, and overall messaging for your users. Evaluate your brand’s values and make sure they are aligned to meet the modern-day needs of your customers.
How exactly do you identify your brands’ values? Consider what is important to both you and your customers. Is it loyalty? Customer service? Trust? While these are all great examples, narrowing down values that are unique to your brand will help you not only stand out more but connect on a deeper level with your audience.
3. Choose Messaging That Speaks To Your Current Audience
How do you speak to your customers or users? Have you noticed that they prefer to have more of a conversation with you, rather than a “transaction”, or vice versa? Truly knowing your audience is also knowing how to connect with them. Develop or edit your messaging so that it is both unique and impactful to your users. Once you’ve chosen which values you want to focus on as a business, you can tailor your messaging to that. Whether it’s updating your website copy, posting on social media, writing a blog, or sending a newsletter—there are plenty of opportunities to practice implementing your new messaging to your ideal audience.
4. Update Your Communication Channels
People of all ages use the internet or social media to some capacity. Years ago, it was commonly presumed that social media was only used by “young people”. These days, that’s simply not the case. In 2023, Pew Research reported that 81% of people aged 30-49 and 73% of people aged 50-64 years use at least one form of social media. To evaluate your audience, determine what their preferred communication channel is, and match that. Whether email marketing for your audience is a thing of the past and they prefer text, or you create a more robust Facebook page for your brand. Anyone can benefit from a total communication channel update.
Have you been using Facebook as your only form of social media? It’s time to add Instagram. Or, perhaps your brand has a handle on every social media platform. Are you posting on each one consistently? Is all of the information current or up to date? Whatever your marketing communication channel may be, taking the next step and immersing yourself in the digital world will only aid in your business’ success.
5. Personally Connect With Your Users
Humans rely on interpersonal communication and connection. In an oversaturated market of products and services, the last thing we want is to interact with a brand that is not being transparent or communicating well with its audience. Good customer service includes getting your customers what they need at the time they need it. However, nowadays, that’s not the most important thing. Customer service that goes above and beyond includes getting your customers what they need in the time they need it, but also getting to know them and connecting with them on a personal level.
Don’t be afraid to ask your customers questions outside of your regular interactions. How are they doing? Do they have any plans for the upcoming weekend? Did they leave a comment on your brand’s last social media post? Respond to it! Little things like that can make people’s day and if you’re in the business of making your customers happy—then why not?
6. Consistency is Key
Customers always look toward brands that are consistent with their online and physical presence. It’s important to make sure that with any steps you take to elevate your brand, it stays consistent. Updating all marketing materials with new logos, colors, or fonts. Communicating changes in messaging, values, or voice to all of your constituents. Staying up-to-date in posting on your social media. And lastly, make sure that you take the time to connect with your customers. Staying consistent in everything you present as a brand will make you more credible and trustworthy amongst not only your customers but your competitors as well.
7. Trust a Professional Branding Guide To Assist You
Working on your brand is a daunting task. At Webspec, our team is equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge of industry standards and trends when it comes to branding. If you find yourself not knowing which next step to take, or overwhelmed by the possibilities, let us do the heavy lifting. We’ll work directly with you to give your brand the facelift it needs to keep business operations running and revenue flowing.
