When many business leaders think of the term "brand" they think of pretty colors, expensive logos, fancy graphics, Facebook cover photos and traditional tv or radio advertisements.
Smart marketers know branding is much more than a logo. In reality, the logo is the easy part, and only one small (yet very important) component of your brand.
Smart and savvy marketers also understand the importance of building a brand architecture and strategy inclusive of the brand identity with supporting visuals, language and more. The colors, language and visuals are supporting elements, not "the" brand itself. There's a big difference.
Your brand is your promise, the value you offer your customers, your community and all who come into contact with your business. It's a promise delivered. It's value received. It's community. It's relationship. It's empowerment, inspiration, education and the list goes on.
Are you influencing brand perception in a positive way? Your brand is your personality, communication, tone and perception to all who experience it. At the root of your brand are a set of experiences.
You can't control perception, of course, but you can influence it if you know how to build, launch and manage your brand architecture. Every brand touch point is an opportunity to influence that perception, to build your reputation.
At core, your brand's rooted in who you are and how you care about others. It's not just about you. It's not just about pretty colors or a logo you pay a branding agency to design.
Your brand is the foundation and one of the most important aspects of your business. Regardless of the size of your company, you have one chance to make a first, second and third impression. Every opportunity counts. Every touch point influences perception and builds your reputation, one way or another. You're either earning trust, building though leadership and relationships - or you're not.
Would you like to learn where to start in building your brand architecture, strategy, vision and more so that you can impact brand perceptions, increase brand equity and build a loyal tribe of brand evangelists? If your answer is yes, then you've landed on the right blog post and podcast episode today.
Take a listen to the 201st episode of the Social Zoom Factor podcast where I provide the definition of a brand, reputation and (most importantly) the top 5 reasons why you must develop your brand strategy and how it can benefit your business, customers and greater community.
Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud.
In this 25 minute podcast you will learn:
- Definition of branding
- Definition of a brand identity
- Definition of brand architecture
- Definition of visual branding
- Definition of brand trust
- Definition of reputation
- Top 5 reasons you must develop a brand strategy for your business
- Importance of brand story telling
- How to increase brand equity
- Risks that lead to decreased brand equity
- Establishing thought leadership, earning trust and credibility via branding
- How to differentiate from your competition via branding
- How to tap into the power of emotional branding
Supporting Resources:
- 15 Tips to Zoom Your Brand (white paper)
- Audience Analysis Worksheet
- 8 Foundational Elements to Build Your Digital & Social Brand in 2016
- Band Humanization in a Nutshell (episode 5)
- Brand Humanization: Social Media Authenticity vs Transparency (episode 16)
- Digital Body Language: 105 Factors Impacting Your Personal and Business Brand (white paper)
- Power of Intention and Trust in an Attention Starved Digital Economy
- Customer Experience is Your Brand - Adobe Summit Inspirations
- Differentiate Your Brand with Personalized Customer Experiences
- Brand Storytelling in a Nutshell: 10 Foundational Elements of Brand Storytelling
- 7 Foundational Steps to Build Your Personal Brand
- Welcome to the Inspiration Age
- Welcome to the Participation Age
- Brand Strategy in a Nutshell
- 15 Characteristics of Human Brands (episode 55)
How to Subscribe to Social Zoom Factor Podcast
This post originally appeared on Pam Moore's blog.