Improve the Brand Experience of your business in 2024

Your brand is more than your logo. It is the relationship your product or service has with your customers. It is what makes your business unique and gives it a competitive edge. Good branding is built on trust which has to be earned. And to build trust your customers need to have a good brand experience (or many) with your business.

Simply put if your customers do not have a good brand experience they will not buy from you.

What are the elements of a good Brand Experience?

When most people think of Branding they think of a logo. A logo is made up of words and images that encapsulates your brand, and is key to identifying your product or service amongst your competitors. Whilst a logo summarises your brand message it is not representational of everything.

This is where the brand elements of your visual identity come into play. These devices, which include fonts, colours, images, and tone of voice, are applied to items such as, your website, brochures, packaging and marketing communications, to emphasise your brand messaging.

So you have your logo, brand elements, and application of both, but brand experience does not stop there. Ask yourself; How do customers feel when they walk into your shop or buy online? How well do you engage with customers on social media? What is your customer service like when it comes to purchasing your product or service?

How potential customers experience these brand extensions is key to reaching the right audience and completing successful sales.

So how do you go about creating a good brand experience?

1 : Research

Research is an essential part of the design process. Knowing what ideas are already out there helps you to understanding current perspectives, and formulate your own creative thinking.

First step is to identify brands you like. They can be direct competitors, local businesses, or simply someone you follow on social media.

Now ask yourself: Why did you choose them? What makes them stand out? How do they make you feel? And what is the result of this brand experience?

Write down or discuss with your team the answers to the above questions.

#designtip – In addition to choosing brand you like, choose a brand you do not like and ask yourself the same questions. It is an interesting exercise to identifying what turns you away from certain brands. We all like different things, and this is key to attracting our target audience.

2 : Your brand

The next step is to look at your own brand. When was the last time you took a step back and really thought about your ideal customer? How do you think they feel when they experience your brand? How do you want them to feel when they engage with your product or service?

Create an ideal customer avatar to identify who you are targeting, how you make them feel, and why they will buy from you.

Once you have a really good picture of your ideal customer review your brand values and what makes your business stand out. Make sure these are still aligned with the core of your business. It is easy for businesses to forget or to out grow their core values.

Finally review the existing brand experience you give to your customers. What brand extensions do you provide? What are you doing well? What are you doing not so well?

Use my Getting to know your brand worksheet to help you review your brand.

#designtips – Do not be afraid of change, change is good. As a business owner you need to change in line with your ideal customer. Only then you will continue to have a valuable connection with them whilst meeting their needs.

3 : Your future brand

By now you should have identified what you like in a brand. Reviewed your own brand to see if your core values are aligned with your ideal customers needs. And worked out what is working and isn’t working when it comes to your brand experience. Next step is to identify what you would like to do in the future.

Maybe you discovered your favourite brands use bright colours and your brand palette is muted. Maybe you realised the brands you remember on social media brightening their followers day, and you think your hard sell might be turning customers away. Or maybe you identified a brand you absolutely love, but have realised you have never bought from them and never will buy from them. And through exploring their brand experiences have realised you make them same mistake…!

Write down a wish list of everything you would like to do. Pull out two to start with. Once you have identified the future Brand Experiences you would like to create, have a think about how you will do this. What you need to do to optimise your customers experience of this? And how will this make them feel?

#designtips – This is a good moment to reflect on the way you work. Do you need to do anything differently to make this future brand experience happen? Maybe you need to complete some training? Or work a little differently? Or collaborate with a colleague?

4 : Measure your success

It can be hard to measure the success of your hard work, especially when that hard work doesn’t equate to online engagement or even sales. However, customer retention rate and repeat business are an indication to you doing something right.

#designtips – An easy measure for success is to ask for customer feedback on your product and or service. Sharing positive customer feedback generates trust for potential customers, critical or negative feedback is essential to improving your business.

Refreshing your brand experience every 12-18 months is important. It helps improve your customer experience and increases business. And it also gives you the motivation you need to focus on improving your business.

Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for more #designtips

And if you would like a 90min one-on-one brand experience workshop for £100 please email hello@lilcreativestudio.co.uk

Photo by NEOM on Unsplash

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