Most business owners think of branding as the name, logo and website associated with your product. Whether you’re preparing a product launch or assessing an established one, you need to consider what customers think of your brand. It is much more than those things; in fact, those elements should be informed and shaped by your brand.
A strong brand is composed of the critical facets that makes you unique and compelling. A brand is why anyone should care about your product or service compared to the million others out there. A brand consists of the perceptions, expectations, and experiences surrounding your business.
Brands should tell a story. They should come with a why. Customers identify with stories; they are looking for a product or service because they have a need. Does your story align with theirs? Marketing dollars are wasted and campaigns are inefficient because your brand isn’t clear – it doesn’t tell a story, so convincing someone to buy is much harder!
Having a story is just half the battle if you don’t know what kind of customers will identify with your brand. Understanding who they are and what messaging will reach them is the true essence of branding. Knowing where your typical customer looks for products or services is the next step in this process.
An effective brand assessment is composed of the following things:
- Competition – who they are and what they are doing
- Positioning – where your brand sits and where it could be
- Messaging – determining the messages that will get customers to care about your brand
- Opportunities – what you’re missing out in the market
A lot of this work is something you can do on your own but be aware that you are biased towards your own product or service. Getting someone outside the company to look at many of these factors will help identify things – both positive and negative – that you are missing about your brand.
A brand assessment is critical to successfully launching products. Without it, you can make costly assumptions and miss out on key opportunities. Knowing who you are and where you fit is critical to decisions about where your product should be found and how you go about advertising it. A strong brand informs marketing messages and makes it clear what the value offering is because you understand who your customers are and what they think is important.
At Aspen Chutes we value brands and their stories. If you’d like to see an example of a brand assessment or find out more about why it’s important, click here:
If you’re interested in hearing how we can help assess your brand and drive higher sales, schedule an appointment with one of our ecommerce experts today! https://www.aspenchutes.com/contact/
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