Developing a brand strategy can be exciting, but at the same time intimidating. Your brand image is a major part of your marketing plan, but executing it may be a tad more difficult. Building your company’s brand image and identity is a very important step and you want to do it right the first time.
Your brand strategy is something that you will want to implement and promote throughout the life of your business. Branding your image throughout your store can involve the smallest decision, such as which hangers you choose. The hangers you choose can tell your customers if you are a high-end high quality wooden hanger type of store, or if you are a discount plastic hanger outlet. Suits being sold on wooden hangers consistently sell for more than the same suits on plastic or wire hangers. This just gives you one example of the type of thinking that should go into branding your image.
A good brand image should communicate something to your customers. The message should be clear and concise. You don’t want your image to be all over the place, but to the point. If I want to offer the best products, then I also want it to be clear that they are the best. I want courteous and professional staff. I want dressing rooms with good lighting. I want everything that you see in my store to give you the impression that you are in the highest quality store around.
Giving a vibe of a certain image helps you connect with your customers. If they feel a type of emotional connection with your store, then they are more likely to return. Connecting with them can motivate them to spend more money. They want to take that feeling that they get in your store home with them. They also will experience the emotion that you evoked every time they wear the item that they purchased from you. When that feeling wears off and they want it back, then they will want to return to the same place and find a new item to renew the feeling.
Coming up with an effective brand strategy isn’t an easy task, but it’s worth all of the time and money that you put into it. Communicating your intentions with your customers can be done through branding. Your unique branding strategy sets you apart from your competitors. Do your research and decide on a major theme that you want to promote. Research your target customer base and find out what makes them tick. Most importantly, what makes them spend money and what makes them come back for more. This could be an emotion that they feel in your store, the type of products that you offer or the deals that they get at your promotional sales. Whatever the motivation is, you need to find out and push the brand image on to everything in your store. Once you do, you’ll enjoy the identity that you create and reap the benefits for the life of your business.
