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Do you know how to protect your brand?
Your brand is a very important tool for your business. Branding is often thought of as the visuals, like your logo or your brand colors, but it also covers the way you communicate with customers and how you present your company to the world. Brand is part of what your customers think of you, so it’s very important to have strong branding and to protect your brand.
Create clear brand guidelines
When you’ve designed your brand, make sure you have brand guidelines set out for staff to refer to and to use when training new employees. Guidelines make sure that your brand remains consistent, making sure that your work is always recognisable to your customer. Set out rules for the size, position and color use of your logo. Lay out rules for tone of voice, colors, typography and anything else important to your branding.
Use templates
If you regularly send documents out to customers and clients, set up templates with a tool like https://www.templafy.com/ to make sure that these communication pieces always look the same, no matter who sends them. This means that your customers always know a document is from you, and the appearance will be more professional.
Admit to your mistakes
All brands will make a mistake at some point, whether it’s poor service to one customer or a larger problem like a data breach. Don’t be tempted to bury your head, as this only frustrates customers more. The better approach is to own up, swiftly deal with the problem, apologize and move on. You can get on with providing great service with your reputation intact. A great example of handling a PR crisis is the response by KFC when a supplier error meant their UK restaurants ran out of chicken. Their advert in response admitted to the problem in a humorous way, and they were able to move on from the issue with minimal brand damage.
Always keep your brand promises
Empty promises lead to angry customers and damaged reputations. Be careful before making grand promises to attract customers in case you can’t keep them up. If you promise to have the lowest prices online, make sure you’re regularly checking the prices of your competitors so you can keep this promise. If you offer free shipping, set out clear terms and conditions so your customer isn’t annoyed to find they aren’t eligible if they live outside of delivery area or haven’t met a minimum spend.
Support your community
Being seen to be doing positive things for your community is great for boosting positive feelings towards your brand. Depending on what your business does, there are a few ways you could do this. Sponsor a local sports team (a kids’ team is even better for good-feeling), or arrange staff away days volunteering with a local project like a park clean-up. Promote your activity on social media so people can see that you are a business that gives back to your local area.
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