Build Your Brand Reputation

Before you decide to put in all the work required in becoming known (last blog posting), it is most important to create a cohesive and strong brand that is consistent and creates a positive perception. You need to build a strong brand reputation by concisely and consistently using language and visual communication and philosophy that promote what you are, what your business stands for, and the services it provides across all printed, electronic, environmental, and social media platforms. Your brand will subconsciously signal to your potential client that you or your business is professional, experienced, organized, and worthy and that your expertise will be a great return on investment. Whichever platform your potential client first sees your business advertised or mentioned is the first chance to a lasting impression.

So, what do you focus on first? When asked what people thought when mentioning branding, many spoke about what they thought about a company in terms of feelings and not exactly about the look and feel. A brand is a combination of reputation and perception. Patagonia, for example, has a phenomenal brand reputation leading with a Reputation Quotient (RQ) ranking score of 82.7 on a list of 100 companies found in the 2020 Axios-Harris Poll 100 survey. The ranking is based on company performance in the areas of trust, vision, growth, products and services, culture, ethics, and citizenship. When people think of Patagonia, their products, services, and ethics come up alongside or at the forefront of the great product line.

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room,” Jeff Bezos.

How do you start to build your brand?

1. Yes, start with a designed and established brand identity system – logo, corporate colors and typeface, tagline, and style guide that reflects your business, its purpose, and philosophy and do not deviate from it.
2. Create consistent, current, and timely content about your business and its services, purpose, and philosophy on all platforms and applications – online, on printed collateral, and on social media. Leave a call to action.
3. Build your online presence: Find out what your online presence currently looks like. Google yourself! Find out what your competitors are doing successfully, reverse engineer, and emulate.
   1. Add social media to your strategy (Twitter and LinkedIn are the best platforms for business) – choose the platform where your target audience lives; it can exponentially build awareness about your business that far surpasses that of traditional ways. It may take more time and effort, but it will be less expensive than hiring an advertising agency and producing a tv commercial.
      • Foster engagement and promote your business by asking people to like, comment, or follow your business. Join groups within your industry. Social resonance drives engagement.
      • Tweet at least three times a day, every day, interesting, fun, helpful tips that relate to your industry and your business. Use a Twitter management tool like Hootsuite or TweetDeck to help organize, schedule, and analyze tweets.
      • And in everything that you put out there, be the “helpful expert” that empathizes with your target audience.
4. Do good by your clients by providing excellent service, being fair, kind, honest, and respectful, as you should in all things related to dealing with people and the world we live in, and practicing social and environmental justice.

Having a cohesive and consistent brand and messaging will give your business high scores in reputation, but the most impactful results will arise from those philanthropic efforts made to promote the welfare of your employees, others, and the world and its inhabitants.

Follow me here or on Twitter @NancyMuesDesign or let’s connect on Linkedin or Facebook! Share your thoughts or your own experiences here in the comment section.

And remember, express yourself in any way that brings you joy and relief and share it with the world. You don’t owe it to anyone but yourself. Stay happy, healthy, safe, and happy graphics, my friend.

Graphic Design (verb): the ultimate trust enhancers, content simplifiers and organizers, efficient and effective information communicators, emotion evokers, and cognition captivators.