What are the first things that come to mind when your customers think about your company?
Why do they trust you?
What truly sets you apart — and is it obvious to everyone who interacts with your brand?
These questions reveal a lot about your brand experience. If the answers aren’t obvious to you, you can’t expect your customers to know why they should choose you over your competitors.
At a time when buyers have more options than ever, defining your brand is your most fundamental mission as a company. It’s not something you can outsource, but it shouldn’t rest entirely on your team’s shoulders, either.
A brand experience agency can bring a valuable fresh perspective and the benefit of having gone through this exercise many times before. They know what goes into brand development and how to create a strategy that communicates your brand to the world.
Here’s a closer look at what the best branding agencies should accomplish.
The world’s most valuable brands all have a clearly defined statement that communicates their worth to the world.
For Amazon, that comes down to lower prices, a better selection and convenience.
For Samsung, it’s creating products and services that give customers the best satisfaction.
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences — and their innovations like PDFs and Photoshop have become a standard part of that.
Your unique selling proposition lives in the space between your company’s mission and your most important differentiators.
You may have a good grasp on what it is already, but maybe you’ve never put it in writing. A brand experience agency can help you refine it and make sure it’s evident on your homepage, your social media presence and everywhere your company is found.
A consistent brand voice and visual brand identity make your company easily recognizable everywhere.
If your brand was a celebrity, would it sound like LeBron James? Amy Schumer? Nick Offerman? Neil deGrasse Tyson?
This isn’t about which celebrity you personally prefer or want to have as a spokesperson. It’s about what tone resonates most with your customers and prospects.
Are they engineers who want straightforward, factual information based on data?
Or are they creative types who appreciate clever puns and good storytelling?
What websites do they visit often? What podcasts catch their attention? What hashtags do they use on social media?
In addition to talking with your customers, you can find insights like these using market research and audience intelligence tools like SparkToro.
Your company’s logo design and colors are another important aspect of your brand identity. Think about what emotions you want to evoke when someone visits your website for the first time. Do you want them to feel calm and reassured? Excited? Intrigued?
A marketing agency that specializes in brand experience can help you develop brand guidelines for both your voice and visual identity. This ensures everyone who is part of your marketing efforts knows what is expected so your audience has a consistent experience each time they interact with your brand.
Your website is one of the most recognizable brand assets you have. If you’re taking the time to define or refine your brand identity, you will also need to update your website.
This could be simple messaging updates or a full website redesign, depending on how much your branding has evolved.
If you’re embarking on a website design project, you’ll need the support of an experienced team that includes a dedicated writer, designer and user experience expert, technologist and developer.
Other brand assets to update include:
Even if you have a strong in-house marketing team, you may need some additional support to handle it all.
Once these updates are made, it’s a good idea to keep them in a central, digital asset management platform like BrandFolder and share it throughout your organization.
That way everyone from your sales and marketing teams to your CEO always has access to the most up-to-date resources (no more excuses for using screenshots and DIY charts on sales decks!).
Your brand identity is beginning to take shape. You’re excited to share your new look and personality with the world, but you need to do it strategically.
Telling everyone to check out your new website won’t accomplish much if people haven’t been engaging with your brand enough to be familiar with you.
To attract attention from people who haven’t heard of you yet, you need a brand strategy. That will likely involve paid ads.
Try these top 10 paid media strategies.
You’ll also need to create your own content, including blogs, videos and social media posts.
You may even want to consider earned media. If your company is solving a problem for the world in an innovative way, consider building relationships with reporters who may be interested in covering it.
Exploring trade publications, virtual conferences or opportunities to partner with other brands whose mission complements yours are other ways to build brand awareness.
Of course, producing all this takes time and effort — which is where a digital marketing agency can help.
In addition to helping you establish your brand identity, the Kuno Creative team can design the branding assets you need to become well-known among your target audience.
Our services include brand development, website strategy, video marketing, custom content, SEO, social media strategy and paid media.
With even more of the customer journey moving online as companies rethink in-person meetings and events, there has never been a more important time to establish your digital brand identity. Take the first step today by scheduling a consultation with us.
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