Establishing a great brand that customers love doesn’t happen overnight. It takes careful planning, clean and consistent design, and a stellar marketing plan with a robust technology component. When a business has all of these attributes working well, customers begin to cultivate good feelings about its products and services. Before you know it, a great brand is born. Here are a few key things that business owners can do to build a brand that their customers will love forever.

Web Presence: Functional and Flawless

Most businesses know that a company website is essential to informing potential clients and gaining new customers, but many companies’ websites are flawed. They may not be intuitive in their information flow, or they may be poorly designed, making important information hard to find. A great web presence, on the other hand, means having an intuitive, easy to navigate site with smooth shopping cart transactions, high quality photographs, sleek design, and a way to contact a representative in just a few clicks. Setting up a great web presence does cost more upfront, but a site with fluid navigation and useful information will make current customers happy, earn new customers, and help to establish a great brand.

Harness the Power of Social Media

Creating and maintaining an engaging social media presence is absolutely essential in getting your brand out there. Some companies have gone so far as to hire a social media coordinator whose sole job is to market their business through these new networking channels and generate good feelings among their customers. Many businesses have Facebook pages and Twitter feeds that fans can like and follow, but smart businesses use these pages to keep fans interested and excited about their products and services.

Little things like offering exclusive deals and coupons to fans and allowing them to purchase new products or services before the general public, can go a long way in keeping your brand in the front of your customers’ minds. Many companies hold contests via social media channels to get their fans talking on their own personal pages about why they like a particular product or service. Even Pinterest, a social bookmarking site that is often viewed as geared more toward individuals, can be used by businesses to share helpful links; customers are likely to feel good about a company that is truly trying to be helpful without overtly asking for anything in return.

Regular Contact, Not Nagging Contact

It’s important to stay in touch with your clientele, but it’s never a good idea to be overly communicative. A company that emails an informative and well-written newsletter every two to four weeks is more likely to have its communiqué read than a company that bombards its customers with daily inbox clutter. We’ve all been victim to the nagging company that sends out multiple emails each day, and we’ve all deleted those emails unread. Taking the time to carefully construct periodic emails that offer useful information and a soft sell suggests that you value quality over quantity — an important characteristic of a great, likeable brand.

Brands are Essential for Business Survival

In today’s business world, it’s not enough to simply find a niche and sell your services. Successful companies know that consistent customer satisfaction and having a strong brand ensures their longevity. Using technology to establish that brand is essential. There’s lots of room for creativity and growth, and fortunately, getting started with a professional website, a good social media network, and strong electronic communication is not complicated. Whether you choose to do these in-house or hire experts to handle your technology needs for you, your business and your brand undoubtedly hinges on your ability to use these tools. Done well, a company’s effective use of technology will build a brand that customers will love for years to come.

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