What Defines a Brand?
We commonly think that a brand is simply the name and logo of a company. But it’s so much more than that. It’s the meaning behind the name and what it represents to us as consumers. A brand is what customers perceive of your company and what differentiates you from competitors. It is a company’s identity. Company culture, message, mission, and the reason behind the company all affect the perception of the brand. So too does the customer experience with the brand.
The impression we get from a brand is based on the interactions we’ve had with them. We associate brands with a certain expectation for their products and service. The interpretations that consumers have about a brand shows its value and uniqueness. The value that a brand provides influences our willingness to buy.
Developing Your Brand for the Right Audience
When creating your brand, you must keep in mind the buyer persona or target audience that you’re trying to reach. A brand won’t get very far if it’s not geared towards the correct audience. They need to be continually referenced throughout the development of the brand. Having the right audience will create the most success for your brand. A well-defined target market makes your brand more effective and established in the industry.
A valuable brand furthers brand awareness among different members within their audience. The right audience creates the greatest possibility for your customers to have brand loyalty and advocacy.
Clearly defining and continually learning about your audience will best target and provide for them. This can be done by researching and staying up to date with your target audience and their habits. This allows you to have the most accurate and applicable content and products for your specific audience. Your audience can also be segmented into groups that allow you to better target them based on very specific qualities. It’s essential to adapt to your customers to ensure they get most friendly service from your brand.
Customer Experiences with Your Brand
Customer experiences are what elevates your product into a brand. So, your customer experiences need to be about more than just a product but a whole brand experience and what it stands for. Experiences are even more important in today’s world with the reach of digital platforms and social media. This results in brand experiences being more easily spread to potential customers.
Better customer experiences create a valuable brand and leads to higher profit margins. While price is a factor in the decision to buy, a more important focus is on the kind of experience the customer will have with a brand. The customer experience is the basis for how a brand is viewed and effects future customers in their decision to buy.
Gaining Word of Mouth Advocates
Even small interactions with customers and visitors affect their view of your brand in the long term. Any kind of customer experience can lead to word of mouth about a brand, whether it’s positive, negative, or neutral. Word of mouth is an organic and great way that brand awareness is spread. It’s a free and a trusted way that people can learn about your brand through the advocacy of other ‘normal’ consumers. Word of mouth is developed because people want input from their family and friends who like to talk about their experiences. Consistently creating positive experiences for customers ensures better and more influential word of mouth about your brand.
The last time you were trying to decide which product or brand to go with, how did you decide? By asking someone you know their opinion and about their experiences. Or maybe you looked at some reviews online. How did this influence the brand you ended up picking? No matter how you decided, customer experiences with that brand influenced your decision.
Experiences Create Brand Perception
Brand perception is simply our view of a brand. It’s how we react and interpret a brand and customer experiences are a way that we create this perception. A consumer’s perception of your brand is a factor in their decision to buy a product and their intent with your brand compared to a competitor.
People want to buy from well-known and credible brands that they can trust. And these brands are developed from great brand perceptions which show how they’re seen by others. But your brand perception could also be negative from poor customer experiences and this spreads to others and their view of your brand. Positive first impressions with your brand are important to create the brand perception you want.
Being able to accurately understand your audience’s perception through each stage with your brand will help create a positive experience and process for them. Brand perception through the awareness, consideration, and conversion stages could differ so take that into account when dealing with your audience. The only way to control brand perception and talk about your brand is to create positive experiences. So that’s why it’s important to ensure the best customer experiences every time.