Do you recognise the 6 early signs that your brand isn’t working?

PLEASE BE AWARE: This is an old article, and while we think there are still nuggets of good advice included here, it may be out of date. Things move very quickly in the world of Digital Marketing, Lead Generation and Conversion Rate Optimisation - so please see our latest news for the most recent advice on how to get more out of your website and online marketing.

Every business no matter how big or small, has a brand and branding. Whether you realise it or not, from day one of trading your business is building a brand. No brand is unchanging, all brands evolve with time and those that were once strong, can wilt and die if the business portrays itself inappropriately or opposes your core brand values.

With this in mind, the way you manage your brand building needs to allow for evolution of the brand and to incorporate the agenda of social media outlets.

So how do you know if your brand isn’t working?

1. The first sign that your brand isn’t working is if you can’t identify your core values. These values form the basis of your business and need to be reflected in all your products and communication. If you can’t recognise and understand your services, then neither will your audience. Although products within your brand can be visually different, it is essential that they all project your core brand values, it is this that binds them together, creating a sense of belonging.
2. Next, look internally at your workforce. If you see unenthused faces, people going through the motions, or staff and team members that are not excited by your brand, how do you expect potential clients to be? Make sure your staff believe in your brand, as the outward perception of your business needs to match your brand values.
3. If your brand promise doesn’t match what you deliver, you have another sign that it isn’t working. Your brand intrinsically carries a promise and a message and this creates expectations for your audience. If you notice your brand is delivering opposing ideals to the expectations of your audience, this will create confusion for fans and leave new customers confused or disappointed.
4. Your brand isn’t connecting with your audience. To know this, you need to know your audience, what they are interested in and what they want from your brand. Once you know this, you can then develop your brand to engage with them directly. It is only suitable to begin communicating with the masses when you know how your publics spend their time and what they respond to, enabling you to approach the appropriate channels for the audience.
5. If you look on Twitter, Facebook and your website, do these outlets illustrate a business that not only communicates but interacts with it’s audience? If your feeds show only comments by you and posts about yourselves, then you are using them ineffectively and are not engaging with your audience. You should be having conversations with your customers, inviting them to share their opinions with you and listening to their responses, not just feeding information about yourself.
6. Strength in the market place is integral to maintaining a successful brand. Is your brand ahead of your competitors, or are you just mimicking them? Make sure you are ahead of the game, and if you aren’t, change it! If your brand doesn’t have a strong and definitive place within the market place when your competition does, it is important you re-evaluate your strategy quickly to find your strengths. Identify what differentiates you from the rest and use this uniqueness to your advantage.

It all boils down to the key values that make your brand what it is. Make sure that throughout your business your core values that make up your brand are represented. This could be the appearance of your office, the enthusiasm of your team, or the products you sell. Once you have these values in place, your brand can begin to develop and keeping these signs in mind you should be able to create and maintain a successful brand.