Do you really understand the power of a great brand?

• It allows you to dominate the market
• It increases the rate of referrals
• It becomes a major point in the decision making process
• It creates a strong, opinionated, passionate community
• It keeps people coming back for more

With all these great benefits you would have to be mad not to pour your resources into branding.

The issue with building a strong brand isn’t about covering the fundamentals but kicking it up a notch and doing that little bit extra to help you differentiate from competitors who may have equally powerful branding in the marketplace.

There is always room for improvement. Budgeting (and time) can get in the way but sometimes it can be as simple as good marketing or putting the extra effort in getting your community active on social media platforms.

Want to know how you can improve your branding with relative ease? Consider the following:

Exclusivity

Adding a layer of exclusivity (such as using an email list to share unique content not found on other channels) gives a sense of inclusion (an “inner circle”) for the hardcore followers of your brand. By creating exclusivity you create a compelling reason for people to follow your brand and through it you’ll gain passionate followers that will prop your brand when they’re given the chance.

Custom Logistics

The experience is very important in order to create a grande brand image and so this means the customer should develop an emotional bond with your brand from the moment they hit the site to the moment they open the box. A relatively easy way to do this is through custom printed boxes, which let your brand stand out from the everyday brown box. The shipping becomes part of the entire experience when it’s customized.

Set Up an Office in a Top CBD Location

Whether you like it or not, your company HQ location matters to your brand.  Located in a suburb won’t do much to your brand.  Fortunately, you don’t have to spend enormous amount of money to lease an office space in, say, London, UK or Melbourne, Australia.  You can simply use virtual office services which are typically located in top CBD locations.  So, your virtual office address can be your main company address, whereas your business operations can be located in anywhere else you want.

Take a Stand

Get behind a movement or declare your values openly to your audience. You may scare away a segment of your market but what will happen is that you’ll pull in the individuals that can identify with your values and vision. Having individuals on your side will keep them around long thus raising the lifetime value of a customer.

Be Real

Ditch the automated social media marketing and, instead, keep it real by putting the people at your work behind the accounts. By having you and your employees at the wheel of your social media you will find it easier to identify with others and create compassion for the product(s), experience, and service. People (and your team) will identify with followers rather than having the social experience on big ad.

Compare/Contrast

Don’t be afraid to call out your competitors when they’re in the wrong (or even when they’re in the right). What you’ll want to do is compare/contrast your brand to others so that you may explain and convey the unique selling point which differentiates your brand from others. Comparing/contrasting let’s people understand the value you’re bring to the marketplace and how your products/services fit into their lives. Once you’ve established this unique positioning in the marketplace through these two items (which can be done through content marketing, social media, advertising, and more) you’ll find it easier to deal with the competition.

A mere five to ten minutes a day working on these items is often enough to set your brand apart from all the others. Ultimately these actions are win/win because they don’t require a whole lot of time nor do they take a lot of resources (hence the minimal effort). Go on and put them to good use and see your brand grow like you’ve never seen it before.

Photo credit: Rupert Ganzer / Flickr