How you communicate as a business determines how your audience interacts with you. It is important for businesses and organizations to identify themselves with a branding statement. What is a branding statement, how is one prepared and how do you communicate it to your customers, potential customers and partners?
Who Are You?
As individuals, we are often required or encouraged to identify or “brand” ourselves through statements in both our professional and personal lives. Introductory statements and short biographical profiles are often required for resumes and employment cover letters, professional website profiles, and marketing materials used to promote featured events and speaking engagements. In our personal lives, we are often required to prepare and submit short statements and biographical profiles for social media networks, dating websites and online forums. In short, potential customers, colleagues, friends and partners want to know more about us, and a well-written and complimentary statement and bio can provide a positive impression and provide a good first step for establishing a relationship.
Building Your Branding Statement
Businesses and organizations often require the same type of statement, in fact it is uncommon for a business or organization to want to stay unknown or “in the dark”. Just like an introduction on a resume or a social media bio, the branding statement of a business or organization acts as an introduction for potential customers and partners. It states who your business or organization is, what you offer, and what you seek to accomplish. Commonly branding statements range from one to three paragraphs and are featured prominently on company websites, brochures and other marketing materials.
Start With Research
Before you begin preparing your branding statement, it is important to identify who your customers and your target market are. In our previous blog post, we discussed how to identify your target market. Now that you’ve identified that market, it is important that you write your branding statement with that market as the audience. For instance, a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) would have a very different target audience than a casual dining restaurant. Therefore it would be detrimental to the CPA to have a branding statement that was too relaxed or emotive, and it would be detrimental to the casual dining restaurant to have a branding statement that was too formal or “stuffy”. If your target audience feels that your branding statement doesn’t address them, they will often tune out and seek out one of your competitors.
Clearly Define Your Business
Next, it is important to be clear about who your business or organization is and what you have to offer to your target audience. It is important for a branding statement to be direct, substantive and honest. If a potential customer, client or partner feels that your branding statement is confusing, pretentious or even dishonest, this may also cause them to tune out and seek out a competitor. Your branding statement must instill trustworthiness, confidence and impart the value you provide through your products and services.
Marketing Campaigns
Finally, be sure that your branding statement is aligned with your marketing and advertising campaigns. Even a great branding statement can be detrimental if it conflicts with the image that a potential customer, client or partner has from your marketing and advertising and vice versa.