One of the most important aspects in web development is branding. You can get fast results with the right marketing campaign, but in order to become a brand that sticks, there are a few rules to follow from the very beginning in order to ensure that there will never be a need to redesign in order to keep the flow of a powerful brand uninterrupted.
1) Your site needs the right dimensions to integrate your logo, slogan and header
Elegance and style is a must. People respond to the vibe they get and decide to buy when they feel “on the right track” and somehow connected. You cannot expect too much when you simply use a site put together by slapping whatever ingredient needs to go on there wherever there is space.
Make sure you first focus on your logo, your slogan and the fact that even visitors not buying immediately need to enjoy their experiences enough and memorize you in a good enough way for them to want to return or mention you to their friends.
2) Let your visitors see what others have said about you
The best advertising has always been word-of-mouth. Or references projecting it to the web. Have you seen the promises, the claims, the “we are the cheapest and best” sorts of annoying and meaningless declarations?
Those are terrible and nobody really takes them seriously. However: Many times people are in doubt when dealing with a company they are not used to.
How will they treat me as a customer? What are their return policies? Have other customers been happy with them?
A part of branding is also showing people that you have a good reputation. This goes hand in hand with the overall image that can turn into a brand.
What are you known for?
Ask yourself that question.
Then find the right reviews that you can dig up, whether they were sent to you by email or left on a blog or forum as a comment.
Let those be seen by your website visitors and they will feel comfortable knowing that your promises have been delivered in those previous cases.
3) Always take the high road
Avoid negativity and making yourself look like a jealous competitor. You may have a competitor doing a little bit better than you at this point, but look towards the future:
They might be out of business and you lead the flock. You will then look like a bully and need to make changes.
There is however an exception:
Always use humor when talking about someone else in a less than flattering manner
If you find a way to take a crack at the competition´s slogan without being direct, it can come off in a funny way that you recognize something silly within their campaign that people will relate to.
If you do that, you can have a definite winner and whatever happens to them and you in the future, if you are not directly mention their name or indicate them as a definite competitor, the joke will vanish alongside their dominance in your industry
4) Praise yourself through hint
Of course, your slogan, headline and whatever people see first can contain a promise. A strong word of confidence will get attention. But when you already have the attention of those people, then it is way too simple to just go ahead and mention what has worked for you.
“Thanks to our many customers happy with our product, we can now offer you something else at a special price” lets people also sense inner confidence and rather views you mentioning a great service as something granted rather than a desperate promise in order to get more clients.
Express endless confidence in your service or product
When you push, people get their defenses up. When you express convidence, they are drawn to you. Make your visitors want to give you a try. It also sparks conversations about your company if you come up with something interesting.
When people talk about you in a positive or curious way, it helps get the word out. And once one has tried your product or service and others ask “How was it?”, then a positive answer can go long ways considering that the talk about you has already previously begun.
5)Look at your strong sides and build a brand from there
Brainstorm about your inventory and determine 1-3 things you do exceptionally better than your competitors. What are your best deals? And most of all: Which products sell best already that clients are the happiest with?
“Home of the best deals on …” is usually better than “Check out our deals”.
Find a product your are carrying which sells well and make sure that you reach more people with it. Once you start selling this, then your other products will become interesting to them as well. Association with a great deal will ignite the flame that starts the fire of you becoming a topic of conversation.
And with that follows word-of-mouth advertising. Which is what builds a brand and upgrades you to a level where plugging yourself is no longer the business strategy you focus on, but rather maintaining your standard and from there expanding towards making all of your inventory equally attractive pricewise and in terms of quality and support.
6) Be on top of the latest and address your visitors´ intersts
Whether or not you want it: You need a blog.
And your blog has to be up-to-date with what is going on in your industry. Simply offering great deals might get you business, but you will not be able to dominate your niche unless you can prove that you know it well.
If you are not an active blogger, make a schedule. Let your schedule determine a time when you update people. It can be a weekly post about the latest and you can simply list what you believe to be of interest.
Not only will it attract new visitors with trending keyterms, it will also let everyone know that you are determined to keep your clients happy by not missing out on what the future has to offer.
Eliminate any unanswered question, because you will not only deliver material to Google searchers and social media followers, you will in time have a weblog known as a valid resource providing answers where other companies are missing out.
And a part of your brand has to be that you are available and don´t leave people hanging without providing them with what they need. And once you are known for that, you cannot lose and will not be overlooked when someone has a need for what you are in business for.
7) Success stories sell
You are who you hang with. And if you are surrounded by successful people, then you as well will wind up being elevated to that level. If you are out there networking, make sure it is with those who are driven, not people who look for answers without following good advice.
TED has become a brand affiliated with guaranteed success stories shared by those who have made it. Who exactly is behind TED? Who knows and who cares. What we know about TED is:
a) The most successful people worldwide are associated with them and willing to contribue.
b) They only allow people to represent them who are on a level where others want to be.
This is the power of branding where you are no longer questioned or have to prove yourself in order to be in the public eye and if you follow their principle, you too can be visible and known without others questioning your quality or your intentions.
Take some risks, but always protect your brand
Setbacks are a part of business. There is nothing wrong with having a few. If you didn´t, you would probably not be able to make a mark with your strong points. However:
There are a few mistakes you cannot make and one of them is to allow a failed attempt to get attention taint
your brand as a whole.
Controvery can bring attention as long as you have you back covered knowing you will be the winner in the end. But too much controversy will have others turned off quickly. It will only encourage competitors to move in and offer a more peaceful shopping experience.
How far you should go is always determined by how your overall sales grow.
Don´t sweat the small stuff as long as you are in request. What they say and what they do are two different things. But when negativity affects your sales, you know you need to tone it down. Your overall reputation will carry you to the top. So continue to climb. And when nobody can touch you or know you down, you are on the right track
The most important thing about the ladder to success is a strong foundation. Otherwise it will fall over and get you nowhere.
Even if you climb slowly, as long as you are headed to the top, you are doing it right.
So continue to rise but never shake your own foundation. And as long as you keep on climbing knowing that nothing can knock you down, your service as a company is going to overshadow everything else and your brand will draw customers knowing that you will deliver what they have come to receive.
