Branding Archives - Serious Startups

Are You On-Brand Enough?

In this incredibly digital world, a lot of people talk about things like content, engagement, and growth hacking. But while these may be the on-trend topics of the time, they aren’t the only things you should be focusing on if you want to ensure that your business is going to blossom. Not in the slightest. In fact, you could be working real hard on all three of those factors, but if you have one thing missing, you may not be able to make any waves. Of course, we’re talking about branding. Because branding can make sure that you have the right impact on whatever you do. From your brand colors to the way that you talk, you need to nail it all. So let’s take a look at how you can do that.

Everything Online

First of all, you have to be able to look at everything that you’re doing online and ensure that it’s on brand to attract your customers. From your logos to your social media icons, and even the graphics or videos that you put out – it should all be branded. So when you’re making videos or images, be sure to find someone that can put these together for you. And when they do, they need to make sure that they are on brand with the design. But you also need to make sure that the content is branded too, and that you’re showcasing your brand personality to project the right brand image.

Documentation

Whenever you create a document in-house, you should make sure that it’s on brand. Create a set format that everything gets written on created in. That way, whenever you’re sending anything out, you’re branded. It’s also a great way to ensure that everyone gets into the brand zone, and feels part of something bigger.

Vehicles

If your business has a fleet or any other kind of vehicle (even if it’s just your own car), you’re missing out on an opportunity if you don’t brand them. Take a look at the different way you can use fleet graphics to brand up your vehicles. This is also a great promotional opportunity for you too. So be sure to create a call to action or showcase your contact details too.

Event Presence

Whenever you’re at an event, or you do anything in a business environment, you need to be on brand. Luckily for us all, there are some great branding options that you can have at events. And you can go all out. From your stand complete with banners and signs to the materials you hand out and even uniforms that you wear, you can brand your presence completely to make a bigger impact.

Every Action

Last but not least, you’re going to want to ensure that you and any members of staff that you have are acting on-brand and representing your brand as best as possible. Establish your brand voice and stick to it, and be sure to choose the right representatives so that you know your brand can stay consistent.

Why Employee Communication Is The Key To Building Your Brand

Many entrepreneurs give the subject of branding a great deal of thoughts. They’ll pore over dozens and dozens of prospective logo designs from a range of talented freelancers. They’ll work long and hard to crystalize exactly which values and attitudes best encapsulate their brand. They’ll agonize over every single letter of their mission statement. But from the customer’s point of view, none of this matters. They won’t give two hoots about whether your logo is the exact right shade of orange, your slogan is catchy and memorable or that your mission statement contains a good amount of “radiant words”. To your customers, the proof is in the pudding. It’s in the way in which they interact with your employees that they ascertain the values of your brand. Thus, it’s more important than ever to make sure that these values are communicated to them effectively each and every day. Of course, this is easier said than done. Here are some ways in which entrepreneurs can manage communication with their employees to keep their brand intact…

Fight through the “technical fog”

There’s no doubt that you entrust many of the more technical aspects of keeping your business great to a handful of talented and technically minded individuals. But if you’re not proficient in their field of expertise, this can lead to what is known as “technical fog”. If you’re to know how to manage the talent risk of your team, it’s important to pierce the veil. It’s not enough to leave them in an office somewhere to “do their thing”. This will lead them to feel remote, alienated and less intrinsic to the success of your business than they undoubtedly are. Make efforts to understand what they do as best you can and work collaboratively with them to ensure that you’re all on the same page. This will not only help you to retain their talents but ensure that the values of the brand are evident even in the more idiosyncratic elements of your business.

Ensure that they, their opinions and their ideas feel valued

Every employee from the frontline staff dealing with customer queries, to your technical support staff to your management team play a part in making your business the success that it is. Without their efforts, your brand and mission statement would be just a handful of empty platitudes. It’s their hard work that makes it tangible. Thus, they need to feel that their insights and ideas are valued. Operate an open door policy, have a suggestions box and never shout down an employee’s contributions to a meeting, even if they don’t align with your own ideas.

Embrace the power of training… No matter what it costs

There is no better way to communicate the fundamental ideals that have built your brand to your employees than regular training. Training not only helps them to sharpen their skills as they learn new competencies, it is also a great motivator. Disrupting their routine and getting them to examine and reassess their working methods is a useful way of getting them to re-engage with their role rather than coasting through it day by day.

Many employers do not welcome the disruption and expense caused by training, but if they don’t embrace its power, they can find themselves compromising their brand with poor customer service.

Use These 7 Tips to Write the Perfect Company Description

Most businesses fail or close during their first decade. The 10-year business failure rate probably isn’t as high as 96%, as some claim, but it’s not trivial either.

When the odds are stacked against you, you need to do everything possible to re-weight them in your favor — including seemingly trivial things, like crafting a winning company description. Here’s how to make yours shine.

1. Weave in Your Mission Statement

Does your company have a mission statement — a single-sentence articulation of its purpose and values?

If not, draw one up today. If so, make it the first sentence of your business description. This guide to writing a mission statement has more detail than you need.

2. Lead With Notables

The third section of Betterworks’ Wikipedia page lists several of the human resources management startup’s top backers and advisors. The list features some Silicon Valley heavy hitters — people about which the casual reader who knows little about BetterWorks’ solutions may well be familiar. There’s no better way to bolster your firm’s credibility right out of the gate, especially if you’re not particularly well-known outside a tight circle of customers and industry insiders.

3. Include a Catchphrase or Motto

If you take one thing away from The North Face’s Facebook page, it’s the outdoor apparel maker’s memorable motto: “Never Stop Exploring.” Take a page from Patagonia’s playbook here and include your own catchphrase in your company description, ideally close to the top or in a field separate from the main body. And if you don’t yet have a snappy motto that encapsulates your company’s value proposition, now’s the time to make one.

4. List As Many Products or Solutions As You Can

The North Face’s Facebook page does this pretty well too. If you didn’t already know the company made “Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Jackets, Vests, Outerwear, Snowsports Gear, Pants, Tents, Sleeping Bags, Packs, and Footwear,” well, a five-second stop at its company page will set you straight.

5. Include Geographical References

You don’t have to list your corporate address where it doesn’t make sense to do so, but your company description should definitely allude to your geographical service area. If you’re focusing exclusively on certain markets, you need to make that clear.

6. List Key Customers

These organizations and individuals bolster your company’s credibility. With them in your corner, you’re much likelier to attract investors’ attention. If you play in the B2B space, prominent execs, advisors and board members are essential for customer attraction and retention too.

7. Keep It Brief (But Not Too Brief)

Don’t drone on. The ideal company description has no “correct” length and doesn’t require a hard stop at any point, but you should definitely be wary of wearing out your welcome. Though there’s some disagreement about the precise length of the typical website visitor’s attention span, it’s a mistake to assume you have all day to make your point.

In Your Own Words

You don’t have to be an award-winning wordsmith to put together a great company description. You just have to allow your passion and expertise to shine through. Prospective customers and future employees can spot winners from a mile away.

Have You Built A Strong Brand?

Building a brand is one of the first things you will have done when setting up your company. But a brand is so much more than just a logo, or just a business name. It is who you are as a person and the values you believe your business should have. Building a strong brand right from the beginning is something people don’t tend to do. So we’re here to help you decide whether you’ve built a strong brand, and perhaps what you could do to make some improvements. Read on to find out more.

The Storytelling Technique

This is one of the most commonly used techniques to help build a strong brand and push for growth. To help you understand quickly what it is, here are the basics. Think of how many businesses you know of, think of how much information they fill you with about products etc. Now think of how much you actually know about the company, who they are, and their brand. Exactly. Companies are so focused with the money side of things that they forget to tell people their story. Storytelling 101 is a great article that explains how it works, why it works, and why you should use it. Having that better connection with your customers, and giving them a better understanding of your company is what will put you a cut above the others. So if you’re going to build a strong brand, right from the very beginning you need to have a story to tell. Don’t just focus on the basics, focus on the picture as a whole.

The Basics

So whilst it is important to focus on the bigger picture, the basics are also so important. This is where the help of a professional might be useful. There are experts out there who are on call to help you understand what a solid brand is. With your input, they can help you build a brand that is so much stronger than all of your competitors. One of the main basics of building a brand is making sure you’re unique. You’ve got to bring something to the table that potential customers haven’t seen before. It could be a catchy name that stands out from everyone else, it could be the way that you’re marketing yourself from the very beginning, or it could just be a new way to entice your customers in. Don’t follow the norm, think outside the box and you’ll always be successful in building a strong brand.

Your Values

Your company has to stand for something, sort of like with the storytelling situation, you need to have values that you’re able to share, both with your customers and your employees. For example, you could stand for fair trade if you’re trading abroad, you could have the value of thinking green and protecting the environment, or you could have the value of putting the customer first everytime. Whatever it is, make sure your company stands for something and you’ll always have a solid brand behind you.