Developing a Brand that Wins Over Customers' Hearts and Pocketbooks

Branding has emerged as one of the most important factors for businesses today. Strong and effective branding differentiates companies. It also builds customer loyalty and trust that turns into higher lifetime values. Developing a brand that wins over the hearts and pocketbooks of customers can be done in a few ways.

Maintain Transparency

Consumers will not connect with a brand that hides or obfuscates practices. Maintaining transparency will build trust and loyalty with consumers and employees. Transparency means being honest and not hiding information. It could even mean revealing information other businesses do not such as videos of internal meeting about the environmental impact of products. Transparency is important to consumers today.

Offer Consistency

The most attractive brand can be destroyed fast by inconsistent products and services. Companies like Melaleuca.com have found a way to deliver consistent products to customers. All business owners must make certain quality is maintained in the products that enter the market. Customers should also receive the same level of service from the business. Consistency will go a long way when winning the hearts and pocketbooks of consumers.

Focus On Customer Service

One of the single most important factors when building a winning brand is customer service. Handling issues badly will alienate customers who might have been loyal for decades more. Focusing on strong customer service that puts consumers first can mitigate problems with product defects, long backorders or security breaches. This means having a cohesive and generous customer service policy as well as trained customer service representatives.

Read and Respond To Feedback

Consumers today want to interact with a brand in a meaningful way. This means businesses must read and respond to feedback. Responding to feedback through letters, social media or emails can create a connection that builds loyalty. Although individual feedback does not always warrant a response, larger trends in feedback should be addressed quickly.

Maintain a Simple and Unified Message

Consumers are much more likely to be loyal to a brand and recommend it to friends if the core message is simple and unified. This means keeping the vision of the company, products and services centralized. Diversifying a brand too much can cause loyal customers to leave if the message or products become something they find unattractive. Simplicity in messaging will help to bring new consumers into the brand.

Building a brand takes time. Every business should have a plan to build the brand gradually. This must include a core vision of the brand that does not really change over the years. Developing a good plan will make it easier to build a consistent brand that consumers will love and trust.