Using Your Company Vision to Bring Your Brand to Life

Behind every successful entrepreneur there is a specific common trait: an effective brand image, and a compelling story built by a strong future vision.

There is a reason you recognize brand logos, have your favorite brands in various product categories, and at the beginning of the pandemic decided to stock up on Charmin toilet paper and not the off brand. While a business simply provides a product or service, a brand provides a connection with the customer, using values and vision to inspire loyalty and respect. To create a brand you will need a few important elements, but we will start with VISION.

Your day-to-day strategy and tasks will not connect with your team or customers until they understand the “why.” Your vision is where you are going, and why your day-to-day strategy is in place. This helps give direction, and alignment to your team and motivates them through their day. Your company vision could be a short phrase, or a short paragraph, telling your team where you are going in the next 5, 10, 20 years.

Now creating a brand vision is great but bringing your brand to life will help you gain support, awareness, and ultimately revenue because you are the known “brand” in your line of business.  You want your brand to be bold and stand out from any competition. You may start with something like this…

· Selling the most environmentally friendly products around.

· Offering the highest-quality materials or products.

· Supporting happiness and satisfaction within your company culture.

· Providing competitive prices, while still making profit.

· Serving and supporting local communities.

But you will need to dig deeper to bring a compelling message to your customers…here are some of the most iconic vision statements today from organization you are sure to recognize…

• Patagonia: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.

• American Express: We work hard every day to make American Express the world's most respected service brand.

• Warby Parker: To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.

• Invisionapp: Question Assumptions. Think Deeply. Iterate as a Lifestyle. Details, Details. Design is Everywhere. Integrity.

Now that you have your vision for the future of your company, what’s next? It’s time to make sure your vision is known by your target audience. Bringing your brand vision to life can be a daunting task, if you’re in need of assistance in this area, I can help, feel free to shoot me a message. Now we will discuss the best approach to building your brand!

Web Design & Search Engine Focus

This can get tricky, but start with your goals. Do you want to be a classic organization, or are you looking to be more edgy and innovative? Either way, your brand design needs to be focused all around your users and your target market. You want to make sure your potential customers are strategically guided towards what they are looking for. Do you want phone calls? Contact forms? Online purchases?

You also need to ask the question “where are my customer and how can I reach them?” There are various algorithms on the internet and endless ways to reach customers. Focusing in on a specific strategy will help you reach your customers, and make adjustments to optimize your website and SEO strategy.

Social Media Engagement & Advertising

Today, the average person spends 2 hours and 23 minutes on social media apps every day. Shocking, I know, I had to recently set an app timer on my cell phone in attempt to stay more productive.

That being said, this is a huge opportunity to capture your audience. Building engaging content that will catch the eye of your viewer is difficult, but staying consistent with your brand vision and design will help your become more and more recognizable to social media users. If you want to get more specific on who is viewing your content, try advertising on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. On these platforms you can get very specific to the target market you are trying to capture.

Your Reputation

I often times here companies say things like “we want to be the most trusted…” or “we want to be the best rated…” when talking about their brand vision. To do this, you need a good reputation. Today’s shoppers are savvy, they do their research and more specifically read reviews on company’s products and services. Having a reputation management strategy in place is important to gain the reputation you are looking for.

Think outside the box

A brand vision can be difficult to clarify. It needs to:

· Define what industry you’re targeting.

· Focus on the future vision and goals.

· Say something powerful about your business.

· Be inspirational and aspirational.

· Fit with your strategy, and values.

· Be innovative and adaptable.

The more specific your brand vision is, the easier it will be to get alignment and strategize to accomplish your brand vision. Your brand vision lays out the pathway to your goals, and shares the message with others to help you gain support, and recognition. This is why many small and medium sized business owners turn to agencies for guidance. 

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References: https://tinyurl.com/2lom53d2; https://tinyurl.com/15ytn1k4; https://tinyurl.com/3c6g4em4