Brand in today's world is not just a logo. It is more than a specific picture or image. It creates the value in the minds of customer about your company and business. Branding is the establishment of reputation and creation of loyal fan base. The most critical part of branding is Brand Promise. Simple explanation of brand promise might: what your brand stands for? How people know about you? How clear are your strategies for your prospects and clients? With brand promise you can make your target audience remember to stimulate their desired reaction. Brand promise is related to brand positioning. For instance take the example of Walmart, they have promised to deliver the goods and services at the lowest price. So they have created the expectations in the minds of customer to have the low price quality products by Walmart.
As a small business owner, you might want to think about how you want to be seen or viewed by your target customers. Based on the brand promise you can create long term strategies as well as tactics and operational strategies. Planning your brand promise is the most important part of business strategy. There are some essential questions to keep in mind when creating your brand promise:
- What is the status of the brand that company wants to deliver?
- What is the specific product or promise company or business wants to deliver to its customers?
- What value do you want to create in the minds of consumers about your business?
- What is the unique quality or specification your business has to deliver to the customers?
Planning of brand promise is more than thinking of a simple fascinating tag line. Actually the business is built around it. Other aspects of marketing like sales, advertising and others, everything should be aligned with your brand promise. Do not ever think that promises are meant to be broken. Promise only what you can deliver. Do not make promises which you are unable to fulfill; otherwise you will create a bad image of your business in the minds of customers.
Every aspect of your business should enhance the experience of your target customers. If you are successful in this, it means that you have delivered your brand promise properly. You should think in terms of how you can go beyond the expectations of customers and how you can create a long term relationship with them. No matter what your brand promise is, either it is lowest prices, or innovative designs, supreme durability, or perfect customer support service, every aspect of marketing of your product must clear state your brand promise to the customers. Especially in small business you should start with a single promise and add more only after you fulfill it. Do not overwhelm yourself. You can add more promises in the future, once you build your team, gain more experiences, or have more cash flow. Fulfilling multiple promises at the same time is not easy. Finally keep in mind that if you fail to make your promise you fail to have the positive image in minds of customers.
Does your small business have a brand promise and how are you fulfilling it in your everyday business life?
