A strong business brand is not just a name that you give your company or enterprise. It gives character to your product or service. In fact, a strong brand provides the very reason for many businesses to exist. Indeed, there is no denying that failure to develop a brand can eventually lead to your business failure. With this in mind, you need to find ways to sustain your brand. Fortunately, you do not have to do any guesswork when it comes to developing a strong brand. Below you will find the top pointers that can help you make your brand a recognized name in your industry.If you want to have a strong business brand, you should plan your overall branding strategies. For starters, you must align your brand to the promise that you want to deliver to your target market. Your brand transcends the logo that you have printed in your letterhead or building. A brand should actually represent the kind of experience that you want your customers to experience when they buy your product. Such is the role that brands play in businesses, so must make it a point to communicate your brand experience. A well-developed brand will become a driving force in your business as it will eventually become identified with the value proposition that you give prospective consumers.When you say strong business brand, you are also talking about consistency. You have to communicate to your market using one voice and one message. This means you have to ensure that the idea you are trying to convey through your brand logo is in line with your promise. For instance, if your brand promise speaks about fast automobiles, you should avoid making a turtle or snail as part of your brand logo. Nothing can confuse your customers more than having a logo that represents an idea that is entirely different from your brand promise. Another aspect about brand consistency that you have to consider has to do with continuity. Make sure that you do not change your logo or message whenever you feel like it. If you really have to update your brand, make sure that your brand promise stays the same and that your new logo represents that message.And lastly, always make it a point to go out into your market and let the people know your brand exists. A strong business brand can only be attained if you can get it in front of your target audience. You do not have to spend on traditional advertising just to reach out to your prospective customers. The Internet can provide you with free tools that can increase your brand visibility.

A worker shortage might be excellent news for the economy! Maybe, just maybe, firms will awake and see workers’ substantial contribution to their success. Some CEOs take unconscionable sums and destroy their firm’s value, unlike many frontline workers who create value. During the pandemic, CEOs took vast sums as they laid-off workers. Some firms sought bankruptcy protection, but hat didn’t stop their greedy CEOs from snatching hefty bonuses.

We have a worker shortage and firms are scrambling to hire whomever is willing. Some firms, like McDonalds have paid signing bonuses. Canada’s Loblaw and its competitors paid a bonus to frontline workers when the pandemic began. They stopped it after three months in unison with their competitors. When government confronted them about this collusion, they claimed it happened independently. Go figure! It’s like you caught your three-year-old with her hand in the cookie jar and she said, Mom, “Cookie Monster did it!”

Worker Shortage Inevitable With Shoddy Treatment

Loblaw’s behavior disturbs me. During the bonus period, profits soared. Per se, that’s no problem. I favor firms making profits. To be sure, I am against government taxing profits. But paying workers the bonus during the pandemic shouldn’t hinge on profits. It was just right. Meanwhile, my wife and I shopped at a Loblaw store and workers continued their excellent service despite Loblaw’s slight.

Leaders must realize frontline workers are the firm’s foundation and treat them well, not as cogs turning out CEOs bonuses! When employers treat workers like machines, they disengage. Gallup said, over several decades, they and other researchers found a strong link between employees’ workplace engagement and the company’s overall performance. Yet employers refuse to accept this. But there is good news: surveys show some firms break the mold and treat workers with respect: Cisco, Apple, Accenture, IBM, FedEx are a few.

Next Quarter’s Earnings Drives Businesses

Companies see next quarter as the prize, so they exploit workers and fudge next quarter’s numbers. I repeat: I am against government taxing business. However, I favor the Biden Build Back Better provision to tax share buybacks that the House passed, and it is before the Senate, even if it might have only a modest effect on share buybacks. Companies shouldn’t be spending billions buying back shares while exploiting workers.

Firms should present to shareholder meetings options to use buyback funds. Choices might include effects of paying bonuses to frontline workers with buyback funds. Shareholders should hear about potential strategic investments, too. Another option is stopping buy-backs for five years after layoffs. Executives, too, shouldn’t get bonuses within five years of layoffs. We must get rid of worker exploitation that enhances CEO bonuses.

Most people are very loyal. Once they decide that they like a person, a company or a product they stick with it. The goal of your branding is to show them why choosing you and your company to work with are the best choice. Your branding message is telling them who you are and what you can do for them to solve whatever it is that they need.

Your brand should inspire confidence and that confidence creates comfort that they are making the right decision. Then after they choose to purchase from you, your follow through with what you promised them in your message makes them loyal and keeps them coming back time after time.

We are going to go through 4 basic things you need to consider when you are determining what your brand is going to be.

Benefits of doing business with you

One of the main things you need to offer your potential customers is the answer to the question: what’s in it for me? This is the message as to why they should choose you over your competition. This may be an addition service you provide or an added bonus they will receive just for working with you that they cannot get anywhere else. For example if your competition traditionally has an office where their customers make an appointment to come in and speak with them, you might offer house calls or walk in appointments.

The key is to realize that benefits and features are not the same thing. A feature is a given. It is a product specific piece of information. So anyone that I selling that same product will be able to offer the same feature. A benefit is that thing that your customers can only get by working with you.

What is your mission and your vision for your company

Your vision for where your business is going and your mission that drives you towards that vision are the basic backbone of any company. This is not just a paragraph that you jot down that sounds good so you can post it to a page on your website. This needs to be developed as part of the core of your business. It defines what your company and essentially what you are all about.

Once you develop your personal mission and your vision for your future and the future of your business, you will have a road map as to what to do next and where to go each step of the way. This will clearly lay out for your customers where you are going and why and allow them to connect with your company on a personal level. They will feel like they are helping you to create that vision and will feel more connected to you and your business.

Know what your customers think of your business

One factor people usually skip over when they are looking at their branding is what your current customers think of you. This even extends to what the general public or maybe people at networking events you attend think of you.

If you have been in business for a bit and you are looking at strengthening your branding you will want to find out what people currently think about your business and you. This will help you understand if your true message is coming across to them or if they are missing something very important. If your main benefits are unknown then they are not doing you any good. So if you survey your current customers as to what they think your message is and they come back all over the place you will see the holes and be able to focus on clarifying your message so that it is getting across to them the way you intended it to.

What do your customers think about your products?

Along with what your customers think about your overall brand and the company in general you should also know what they think about the products and services specifically. It will do you no good to come up with a list of benefits if no one but you finds those things valuable.

You might feel that having access to a digital version of your newsletter is great but if you are in a retirement community where very few of your residents have computer service, they would not see this as a benefit of living in your community.

So you should also be asking your customers questions like why did you choose us over someone else and what was it about our products that made you decide to buy from me.

When you are looking at developing your brand or strengthening the brand you may already have, keeping these 4 principals in mind will help you make sure you are considering things from all angles. By having a strong mission, vision and message you will be better prepared to offer your customers what they are wanting. Your personal and business branding will help you stand out from the crowd and make you the only choice when your prospective customers are looking to buy.