To really understand how to create a successful brand experience, it’s important to see how experience relates to the different areas within your business. In this article, we’ll do just that and offer some great tips and provide tasks to help you create your own amazing brand experience.
If you are solely in business to make quick money on a single product, don’t waste your time – this article is definitely not for you.
6 steps to create an amazing brand experience
Emphasising experience over everything is the key to creating a memorable brand with repeat customers. Some of the most well known brands today create experiences that are aspirational, that stir feelings in potential and existing customers.
So how do you make sure all your brand elements leave a positive impression? How do you create a great brand experience for your customers? We’ve made a list of some of the essential factors.
1. What is your brand purpose?
Who are you? Being able to answer this question matters profoundly for your brand experience. Nike, for example, does not answer this question with: “I sell shoes.” Nike promotes a life of ambition, athleticism and determination. Nike’s purpose is communicated at every stage of the brand experience.
Defining who you are will set the tone of the type of experience you want to create. In an oversaturated market, products that are connected to a bigger purpose can stand out from the crowd. When you get this right you may find the purpose often has more value than the product itself.
Task 1: What is your brand’s purpose?
2. Focus on your customers stories and experiences
Some of the best brand experiences are those that highlight storytelling.
Storytelling doesn’t just have to be about your brand, but your customers stories too and how you improved their lives with your product or service.
Sharing your brand’s stories encourages continuity, curiosity and brand confidence. Having these three creates trust that you are not simply around to make money with a static product, but are here to support and create a relationship with your customer. Just remember to make your customer the hero and not your brand.
Through blogs and social media, you have the capacity to share your stories and really inspire people in the process.
At the end of the day all we want to know is how you can improve our lives.
Task 2: How are you improving your customers lives?
3. Be brand consistent
Inconsistency can damage your brand image and overall customer experience. It’s essential that the different elements that make up your brand speak the same language.
Brand guidelines cover visual consistency. This includes your brand colours, fonts and logo. Your brand needs to keep it’s look in check, if you keep changing your look (just like a Chameleon against their background), customers will loose confidence and trust in your brand, and your brand will fail.
What about communication and attitude? Does your website speak to your ideal customer using your brand voice? Does your customer support speak in the same voice just as your sales staff do? What about your social media posts? Are they in line with your overall brand personality and approach?
Task: Is your brand voice consistent throughout your brand?
4. Engage with your customers
Does your brand offer customers opportunities to see, hear, read about and talk about your product or service?
Your visibility, audibility, and accessibility offer multiple opportunities for engagement. Sending customers samples in the post or creating pop up shops allowing them to sample your products at a stand are all common ways to create opportunities for engagement.
These opportunities are best tackled with knowledge of your sales funnel and how and where your customers are more likely to engage with you.
Task: Think of a new opportunity to create engagement with your ideal customer.
5. Memorable experiences are more important than sales
What happens before, during and after the sale are the most memorable parts of the purchasing experience for a customer. The positivity of these experiences is crucial to the brand experience.
For example, if you run a shop that sells chocolate, here are 3 experiences that you can give your customers that do not prioritise on the sale.
1. You could allow the customers to sample your amazing chocolates in the shop.
2. You could look at how you and your staff approach and talk to customers.
3. You could you let customers leave with a little sample even though they haven’t bought anything.
The same can be said for online stores.
1. Do customers clearly understand your offers?
2. Do they have to work through lots of irritating pop-ups?
3. Do they get all the information they need?
4. Is check-out simple?
All these experiences allow the customer to connect an emotion to your brand and then communicate it to others.
Task: Get someone to try your website out and give honest feedback.
6. Be adaptable
The way we find information and seek experiences is constantly changing. Adaptability is more important today than ever before. Adaptability includes a keen awareness of popular culture and trends, integrating your customers feedback and generally keeping up with the times.
Previously you may have highlighted how your products contain organic ingredients, but now you feel that it would be better to focus on your brand efforts to decrease waste in your manufacturing process.
Being in tune with your customers changing needs will help support your brand experience and increase growth.
Task: Does your marketing communicate your present client needs?
Conclusion
By following these key elements you will be able to create the perfect experience based around your brand. Within that you will be able to create a lifelong relationship with your customers, and attract prospective customers too. Now you know what you need to do – you can get to work creating your amazing brand experience.
Remember, if you look after them (the customer),
they will look after you!
