Your branding is like your promise to your customers: A promise of who you are as a company. And on your website your branding is a visitor’s first impression of what it will be like to interact with your company. It’s your modern-day calling card.
Is your company a fast-paced, game-changing innovator in your industry? Or is your business focused on giving back? Are you a high-quality, exclusive brand, or are you focused on providing exceptional value at a great bargain to your customers? Whatever kind of company you are, your website needs to be a reflection of that, via your branding.
Is your website’s branding an authentic representation of your company? Does it put solving your customers’ problems at the forefront? If not, it may be time to update the branding on your site.
Why You Should Consider an Update
There’s a major, necessary shift happening in the world of marketing right now. It’s reflected in HubSpot’s recent shift from using marketing to funnel customers through, to a new, improved “flywheel” methodology. With the dated “funnel” way of thinking, customers are an end-result, and nothing more. Very little is customer-centric, and the focus is on the company, and not the client.
What is this new methodology all about, then? Flywheel thinking puts your customers at the center of your focus, from marketing and sales, to service in order to put your customers’ needs and opinions first. It means removing unnecessary friction within your process to create the best possible interactions with your clients. And it’s peak inbound marketing.
Your website should be the best, truest representation of your company. And it should work for you, bringing customers to you and serving them as best you can, instead of using pushy, false sales tactics.
Is your website doing all these things for you? If not, you need to update your branding.
It’s More Than Just Your Logo
Updating your company branding can be so much more than just making tweaks to your logo or altering fonts and colors (Although color can make a big difference too!). Have you considered your brand messaging?
Brand messaging refers to everything you do to communicate with your buyer, influencing and motivating them, and convincing them to buy your product. It includes everything you do to convey why your brand matters, what your value proposition is, and how you are different from your competitors.
So how can you develop your brand messaging? Let’s start with your value proposition, which can be displayed prominently on your homepage and throughout your site.
Your value proposition tells your clients and customers why they should do business with you instead of your competition. It’s your unique identifier and helps explain how you can solve your customers’ problem. Value propositions are simple and streamlined; they’re not filled with buzzwords. Value propositions fulfill the following guidelines:
- Identify the benefits your product or service offers
- Describe how these benefits are valuable
- Identify your customer’s main problem
- Connect your value to your customer’s problem
- Explain how you are the preferred provider of these values
This might sound like a lot. I promise, it’s easier than it sounds. Looking for a few examples of some truly great value propositions? Check out these stellar examples from a few well-known brands, who make their value proposition a major priority.
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But Speaking of Your Logo…
Is it time to redesign your logo? It might be time to consider redoing your logo while you are updating your brand. A new logo can signify larger improvements to your site and your brand. Have you updated your value proposition or other parts of your brand messaging? A new logo is a great way to highlight these changes and your new and improved branding.
So when is it time to redesign your logo? If:
- It’s grown old, or appears dated
- It’s too complex, and needs to be streamlined
- Your company is changing, and your brand is evolving
- Your company is growing
These are great opportunities to redesign your logo to reflect your brand messaging.
Food for thought: Did you know that color can improve brand recognition by 80%? What does your logo’s color say about your company? Find out here.
Your logo should be simple, identifiable, and accurately represent the face of your brand, through and through. If it’s not doing all of those things? It might be time for a logo redesign.
Tone of Voice and Your Branding
Another thing to evaluate as you consider updating your brand is if your website’s tone of voice matches your mission and your brand? A lot of thought should go into the tone of voice you develop for your website, your social media presence, and your marketing materials. Your tone of voice sets the stage for how your customers should feel interacting with you.
Your tone of voice is a unique part of your storytelling and your brand. Your tone of voice should ring true to your brand’s set of values. If your company’s mission is global sustainability, your tone of voice will sound very different than a company whose goal is to bring joy and playfulness to their customers. These two companies should have very different tones of voice. The bottom line? Your tone should be authentic to your company.
Your website’s branding is the perfect way to reach out to potential customers; to share your mission with them, and to show how you can help solve their problems the way only your brand can. It can be fun, lighthearted, innovative, revealing, or even empowering. But the most important thing? Your brand must be a reflection of you. And that’s what will establish your customers’ trust in your company. You.
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