Getting a substantial number of Google reviews is not an easy task; it requires a solid foundation. You must imbue your store with enough personalization to leave a lasting impression on customers and make them remember your store or product. Simultaneously, it should generate enough buzz to bring in traffic.
BeyondNext emphasizes that in marketing, brand recognition is the key to establishing trust with customers. "Creating a brand image should begin with a deep understanding of the brand's target audience and an awareness of what makes the brand, or potentially makes the brand, uniquely valuable and significant to the audience." "Incorporating these insights into various aspects of the brand identity helps demonstrate alignment with customers' perceptions, ultimately leading to long-term loyalty and advocacy from customers.
But brand recognition is a significant investment, often overlooked in the early stages. How do you ensure that your brand image is as strong as possible?
What is brand identity?
Brand identity is how a company presents itself to the world. It refers to all the elements that can be used to communicate the essence of the business to customers, including messaging, logos, websites, signage, and product packaging, as well as the colors, fonts, shapes, and language used in them.
Your brand image should be the result of careful research and thoughtful consideration. Once established, your identity will project your personality and a set of commitments about your brand, both for customers and employees.
Brand identity is distinct from a similar concept, brand image, which refers to how people actually perceive your brand. Brand image can also be seen as the feelings customers have when interacting with you. Your goal should be to establish consistency between your brand identity and your brand image, which means that customers should perceive your brand in the same way as you do.
How to establish a brand identity?
Learn from the best examples.
Lululemon is a sportswear company, and its brand image is based on seven core values: "Quality, Product, Integrity, Balance, Entrepreneurial Spirit, Excellence, and Fun." Each of these values is reflected in the product photos on the website as well as in the content about its designs.
However, Lululemon's brand identity is more than just its polished appearance. Its belief in core values is further evidenced in the way it operates:
- Supporting its active fan community through events, fitness classes, and customer stories.
- Seeking the assistance of social media influencers to expand the brand's reach and attract new customers.
- Providing community resources, such as the "Here to Be" yoga program, to help generate positive social impact.
Examine your existing ideas.
To audit your existing brand, examine your online brand (such as your website and social media) and offline brand, including your packaging, promotional materials, and physical promotional materials. Carefully review these brand factors:
- Logo
- Slogan
- The tone, voice, word choices, and sentence structure of brand content
- Primary colors and fonts
- Brand-related images, illustrations, or photographs
You need to make these factors creative enough to leave a lasting impression on people. If you have a physical store, it must be kept clean and organized, with products displayed in a structured manner. The store decoration should have a personalized yet consistent style, with colors matching the brand. The furniture used in the decoration should be in line with the quality of the products. Consider the needs of customers and place some eye-catching reminder signs or creative signage. You can refer to Pinterest for inspiration.
Here, it is recommended to place a Google review card sticker at the checkout counter, making it easy for customers to leave online reviews for the store. You can also create a display wall and print out existing Google reviews to showcase them, which can attract more customers to leave reviews.
