Your business’s brand is more than just your name and logo. It’s also the feeling people get when they experience your product. Your brand should convey what they need to know about you and your business, express what should be expected in a customer relationship with you and also be flexible enough to be able to be used in a number of different contexts. Basically, a brand that works well should represent the character of your company and its people, all while saying very little at all. In short, your brand is an essential part of your business, and should be kept top of mind in all of your dealings.
As the marketing expert for Emphasize, it’s my job to make sure that we design your website in a way that conveys your brand in the best way possible. And if you’re looking to build your brand from the bottom up, we can help with that too.
What’s in a Brand?
Website usability expert Kate Kaplan of the Nielson Norman Group’s (NNG) article, “Brand Is Experience in the Digital Age,” says that successful brands are composed of three fundamental parts: visuals, tone and behaviour.
The visuals are exactly that – what you see. They are anything that can be printed on paper or put up on the Internet. They are the physical representation of your brand, and consist of your logo design, fonts, colours, images and anything graphical that can be said to stand for your company.
The tone is what “wraps around” the visuals, and is supported by plain, old-fashioned words. It’s the content on the pages of your website and how it’s written, the types of communication you include in your advertising and how you speak with your clients and your employees. It’s indicative of how people can expect to be treated and how they will feel when they interact with your products and your staff.
Finally, behaviour is how you act and what you do. Everybody knows of the trouble United Airlines recently faced due to their terrible behaviour towards a passenger. And the public relations disaster that followed. The amount of damage that was done to their brand will be extremely difficult to overcome. People want to do business with a company who they believe is similar to them, and which acts the same as they believe they would in a difficult situation. To boost and protect your brand, expect to reflect the values of your consumer.
All three of these components should be working in sync in order to have your brand be its most effective.
Best Branding Practises
Emphasize’s best branding practices consist of four major parts:
Brand identity. Find one or two things that positively set your products or business apart from the others and emphasize them. Being different is good!
Treat those you know well. Forget trying to reach a million people all the time. Help grow your brand by reliably networking with a targeted, dedicated group who consistently use your services, and reward them for it.
Go social! Use social media to open up conversations about your products, people and services. Remember, though, social media comes with its own set of rules, so make sure to follow them accordingly.
Customer awareness. Those interacting with and talking about your business are also representatives of your brand. It’s wise to always be considering their needs and wishes!
Emphasize Website Design Meets the Needs of You and Your Customers
The best kind of business experience is one when the customer’s requests are filled through a pleasant and stress-free experience. The same goes for a brand. The best ones are those that you barely even notice are there, but are easy to explain when you have to.
At Emphasize, we provide website design services and are able to implement a number of strategies to augment the customer experience. We can employ search engine optimization tactics, pay-per-click advertising, ecommerce capabilities, analytics and customer relationship management tools as part of your design package.
