Your brand is an important factor in the way the world recognises your company and the goods or services you offer. Your brand equity is the value of your brand, as perceived by customers over other products within your marketplace.
Growing your brand is an intrinsic part of your business and something you should continue to focus on as your business evolves. Your customer service ethos, the quality of the goods or services you provide and your reputation within your marketplace are all part of your brand equity. You should continually strive to ensure that these are the very best they can be.
Some of the biggest brands in the world have worked for years to ensure that they are held in high esteem by their customers. But even the biggest of brands know that you can never rest on your laurels. A minor blip in production or a bad piece of PR can result in your brand equity taking a tumble which you will need to rectify as a matter of urgency to be sure that your customers still value your business.
Here are our top tips on how to ensure your brand equity never fails you:
Quality over quantity
Always offer excellent quality goods and services so that your customer will want to buy from you time and time again. If they have an enjoyable experience dealing with you, or love the quality of your wares, they will tell others about it, thus promoting your business via word of mouth.
Check out the competition
Don’t become complacent. Always keep an eye on your competitors activities and learn from them. If they are offering something that you don’t, consider if you may be able to do the same. If they have made a mistake with their own business model, make sure you don’t follow suit.
Stay consistent
Your brand image is extremely important to the success of your business. Every element of the look and feel of your brand should remain consistent and easily recognisable. This strategy goes beyond just clever logos and colour schemes, you need to ensure that your products, pricing, brand names, strapping and image as a whole remains consistent.
Listen to your customers
Your business would be nothing without your customers. Therefore, it is important to give them a voice and listen to what they have to say. This way you can identify your strengths and weaknesses and adjust your business model accordingly.
Always keep on top of your brand equity. Measure it at regular intervals and look for ways to increase your popularity. A positive brand equity will help you grow your bottom line. If people love you, you may be able to raise your prices, or change the way you sell to them. If they don’t, they will head straight over to your competition.
Increase your brand equity by increasing consumer loyalty. It pays to associate your brand with better value or quality and to sell the benefits of your business over and above the competition.