The creation of a clear, detailed, and highly comprehensive brand that is extremely intriguing is one of the most critical of all activities for your business. It makes a statement that informs consumers of the who, what, why, and how of what you do and what you offer. It clearly outlines how your business is unique up against those that are similar in the industry. It extends past the services and/or products that you offer. It is more than an activity to compel consumers to buy into your business. It is – in short – the total persona of your business.
The brand is the basis of the process of being there for your employees, your vendors, those that you partner with, and your customers. It defines your business – as a whole. It is the basis of driving interest, curiosity, and success.
Your brand will be the driving force behind developing the reputation of your business, driving the revenue of your business, and – ultimately – the amount of satisfaction that your customers have when interacting with your business.
If you’ve done the work of building your brand, Congratulations! Now, it is time to learn what steps must be taken after you have succeeded in this endeavor.
The Customer Journey
One of the most common misconceptions among businesses is that the customer journey is completely linear, in nature. This just isn’t true.
Consumers do not simply learn about a brand, review products and/or services, and then make a purchase. No, consumers are constantly utilizing various types of devices, accessing a multitude of platforms, being exposed to many different influences, and being swayed in their opinion and thought processes. You must keep this in mind when evaluating their journey.
In order to truly consider the journey of your customer, you must know what types of issues they face, what questions they ask, how they think, and which platforms they use to get information.
You must then consider all of that and make an effort to create a brand strategy and distribute the appropriate content to meet them on their journey. They will not all just come to you. You have to place a priority on meeting them and drawing them to you.
Demographics and Psychographics
Now, two main components of success when meeting and urging your customers towards your business are basic demographics and also psychographics. Demographics include their gender, ethnic background, what type of relationship they are in, their status of employment, where they are located, educational background, income, and age. Psychographics include the following:
- Triggers of your customers
- Motivations
- Common pain points
- Their personal preferences
- The unique behaviors exhibited when making purchases
- Their influences
- Their consumption habits
- The opinions and beliefs that they hold
In short, you need to know who your target customer is (which you already concluded when you originally built your brand), how those individuals behave, why they behave that way, and what they truly value. In doing this, you will be able to successfully outline your marketing endeavors and all related communications so that they speak directly to that specific group of people. Instantly, you will find that both demographics and psychographics play a direct role in how you sell, where you sell, why you sell, what you sell, and when you sell.
The Gap Analysis
In terms of your business, a gap analysis aids in bridging the gap between the potential of your business and its overall performance. It outlines what is currently going on with your company and what you would like to – eventually – occur. To successfully do this analysis, you must look at it through the journey that your customer takes. The four basic forms of gaps include the following:
- Performance
- The Profits
- The Products and/or Services
- Resources
This entire process helps you to determine how you can achieve the goals that you have as they pertain to your business. It simply looks at what is currently occurring and allows you to highlight the shortcomings associated with your company. Then, it allows you to identify the opportunities that you have when it comes to improving your business. Once you have identified what can bridge the gap, you will need to create a solid plan that includes changes you may implement.
To achieve the highest level of success, you will need to create a strategy that includes action-based objectives. This will aid in actualizing the transition that needs to be made and outlining the steps that need to be taken to get there. While going through this process, you must visualize each step and thoroughly document each step. This will help you in continuing the forward motion that your business requires to reach the level of success that it is possible of reaching.
Identify Key Performance Indicators
Key performance indicators – often referred to as “KPIs” – identify a set of measurements that are quantifiable in gauging the overall performance of your business on a long-term basis. In turn, this will help you determine the strategies that your business use, the financial-based components that have led to your overall success, and your operational-based achievements up against other types of businesses that are within the same industry.
The following outlines the most common types of key performance indicators that you may use with your business, along with a brief description of each:
- Financial-Based Metrics – These metrics are typically associated with the profit margins and your company’s revenue. Ratios that may be used to determine this include profitability ratios, turnover rations, and liquidity ratios.
- Customer Metrics – In short, these metrics identify the efficiency in which each customer is served, their general level of satisfaction, and your level of customer retention. Components that may be used to measure these metrics include new tickets, tickets that have been resolved, and the average response to each customer.
- Process Performance Metrics – These metrics focus on the monitoring and the measurement of the operational-based performance of your business. Examples include the efficiency of the production processes, the total amount of time needed to complete something, the throughout, and the rate associated with quality.
By identifying the key performance indicators that relate to your business, you can make marked improvements that will instantly build on your brand. The key is innovation and creativity. By combining these elements to improve your business, you are sure to create a unique plan that will help to maintain your brand, extend your brand, and make your brand work for you.
Solidify Relationships
Once your brand is built, you must work to solidify relationships with your customers. You must develop and build relationships on a continual basis. You are an individual. Each of your customers are an individual.
Your business – believe it or not – is an “individual”, too! It carries its own persona and it should be personable. This is especially true in today’s world where corporations are often viewed as cold, money-hungry, and selfish. Your business must be warm, approachable, and concerned. Your business must reach out to people on their level.
When you sell services and/or products, it is not about your profits and losses. Not really. It is about connecting with people. It is about solving problems and coming to the aid of those that face issues. To continue your brand marketing endeavors, you must remember that.
People do not care how many sales you make or how much money you make. They do care, though, about the impact that you have on their lives. They care about the problems you are able to help them solve. They want to deal with an entity that is “real” – as “real” as they are.
Sure, your goal may be to make $50,000 in sales each month. It could be to make $500,000 in sales each month – it does not matter. What DOES matter is each, individual sale that you make and its impact on the life of the person the sale was made to.
Once you have your brand built, remember the target audience you created it for.
Yes, it is important to evaluate metrics, but relationship-building is even more important.
This means that you should communicate and interact with your customers regularly – be it traditional mail, email, or even through a social media platform. Numbers are important, but customers are critical. Focus on their overall satisfaction, and you will continue to achieve amazing levels of success!
Contact Us Today
If you would like assistance in building your business, contact us here at Brick Road Media. We offer many solutions for those that have the desire to share their products and services with the world. Examples include branding and rebranding services, custom websites, eCommerce websites, code updates, content creation, and more! If you would like to learn more, contact us today.