Brand Building - Does Your Brand Tell the Right Story of Your Business?
Brand building is a deliciously complex process.
Think of it like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Each piece may not make much sense separately, but when the puzzle is completed, the story is revealed.
Your business story is told in various ways – from the visual aspects of your branding to your words and actions. Every brand has a story, but if you don’t intentionally create yours, the version your audience receives may not be the one you had intended to tell.
So, how to make sure your brand is telling the right story?
Let’s look at the pieces of the puzzle and how it all fits together.
Brand Building - Does Your Brand Tell the Right Story of Your Business?
What Makes A Brand Story?
The Way You Look
Most people start brand building by choosing a name and logo, which also involves determining the core colours that will represent your business.
These visual aspects are like the corners and edges of your puzzle. They help guide you into putting the central themes together and set the tone for the final picture.
Everything from your logo and colours to your fonts, images and the visual design of your website add to the visual storytelling aspect.
Research shows that people pick up on these visual cues within milliseconds, forming a snap judgement of your business based on those first impressions before they even begin reading your content.
That’s why it’s vital to choose the right combination of visual content on all your different channels – from business cards to your website.
What You Say
Once people have resonated with the visual parts of your brand, they will move on to the next step – reading (or perhaps listening to) what you have to say.
Research has shown that 45% of your brand image comes from what you say and how you say it, so this is another important chunk of the puzzle!
Make sure you stay consistent through all your channels. The language, tone and messaging used on your website should be in line with that used on your social media, in your emails, your videos, and every customer interaction.
Your Actions
No matter how well you craft your visual and written story, if you don’t act in a way that aligns with it, it’s going to be clear to your audience that it’s a work of fiction – and people don’t buy into fiction – not when it comes to trusting businesses, anyway!
Being authentic and acting consistently are the final puzzle pieces. Your business must reflect the values of the story you’re trying to tell. Today’s consumers are savvy. They can sniff out inauthenticity a mile away. Any scent of deception or fakeness and the bad news will travel like wildfire.
The good news is that you can use lots of different tools to help you deliver an authentic experience for your customers. Couple your great customer service with things like automated emails, an easy-to-navigate website, online store capabilities, and scheduling your social media content as well as your newsletter content.
You also don’t have to do everything yourself. Accessing the knowledge and experience of relevant experts can make things so much easier. And the great thing is that there are experts for every task - web designer, content writer, video editor, graphic designer… whatever you need, there will be someone you can go to for quality help.
Telling Your Business Story Via Brand Building
Humans are hard-wired to love a good story. Before you start crafting content to reflect your unique narrative, make sure the various elements of your branding tell the tale of your choice.
Remember that your story is not all about you! You actually want to make your customers the hero of your story. Your business is the resource that enables them to have their happily ever after moment. By putting them front and centre of your story, it makes for compelling reading!
Think of your website as the cover and blurb to your novel, as this will be the first point of contact for many of your potential customers. Nailing your website design will draw them in so they can become enamoured with the bigger story of your business.
So, if you are ready to draw your customers into the story of your business via your website, then let us help you create it. Here at Creative Web Designs, we are specialists in Shopify sites that convert.