Branding Series 3

In my last post, I examined the nature and characteristics of a weak brand. If your business name cannot be remembered easily by your clients or potential clients; you never get repeat business; what you do as a business entity is not easily understood by people (i.e. you have to explain over and over again what your business is all about before someone says "oh I get it now!"; 

OR no matter how hard you try to, and how much money you spend on advertising, you seem not to be attracting clients, then you know you have a weak brand. If the above signs are showing on your business, then you have to step up your game and re-brand your business. 

But before you even start doing that, you must first be fully knowledgeable about the characteristics of strong and well established brands. So that when you start the re-branding process and some good results begin to show, you will know immediately and capitalize on them to change the fortunes of your business for life!

Here are five signs that you have a strong brand:

1. Your brand is always praised and celebrated when it comes up in conversation.
2. Your customers keep thanking you for your services; and they keep coming back.
3. You spend little money on advertising but you seem to have a strong pull of clients, some of them coming from nowhere; and they start asking for other range of services
4. When your name comes up in a conversation, people are quick to comment positively on what you do or what your company stands for. e.g. if someone should ask "do you know about The Consulting Way? Someone should be able to say "Oh, that is Edem Ayiku's blog! He provides good business advisory services."
5. People keep recommending you to others who keep recommending you to others who keep recommending you to others.....and the cycle goes on.

These are signs that you are getting there! And you have to keep doing what you did to have created that response. That is one way by which you start building a strong brand. 

In this era of strong competition in business, you can't afford not to build a strong brand.