How to make your brand a powerful sales tool
There’s a common misconception that branding exists just to make your company “look and sound good.” But your brand can have far more meaning to your organization and its performance in the marketplace.
Your brand comprises every interaction a client has with your company — from their first visit to your website, to how you answer your phones, to the biggest sales pitch, to the small day-to-day exchanges you have with them. In short, your brand can actually be one of your most powerful sales tools. How? Simply by being out there 24/7.
Whether through employees or marketing materials, your brand is out there selling your products and services all the time. When you can’t be in the room or on the phone with a client, prospect, or candidate, you need your brand to represent your organization and be memorable. When you are in front of these audiences, you need your brand to help reinforce what you’re saying and give you credibility.
Infusing your brand with consistent, compelling verbal and visual cues sends signals that quickly communicate your strengths and attributes to prospects, clients, and candidates. Here are three things to keep in mind to effectively make your brand a powerful sales tool:
1. Create a compelling brand positioning.
Using simple language and specific proof points, a compelling brand positioning should capture who you are, what you do, and most importantly how you benefit clients. Avoid making sweeping claims if you don’t have examples — authentic to you — to back them up. And make sure the tone of voice you use to communicate these key messages actually sounds like something your leadership or employees might say. We have some tips on how to do all of this effectively.
2. Create complementary, differentiating visuals.
When it comes to creating visuals for your brand, these terms aren’t mutually exclusive. Your logo, typefaces, colors, and other visual elements should reinforce your brand positioning and echo how you communicate your mission, voice, and values. At the same time, it’s important that you develop a visual framework that stands out. Your audience should be able to pick out your brand from other competitors and believe that what they’re seeing feels authentically you.
3. Keep it consistent.
Even if you feel saturated by your brand from being surrounded by it all the time, that’s not a reason to change things. Showing a consistent brand across your materials helps you stand apart from your competitors, build credibility with your audience, and become more recognizable in the marketplace. Ultimately, consistency can directly contribute to your revenue. In a 2019 survey of B2B, B2C, and mixed organizations, 36% of companies said that consistent branding contributed to a revenue growth of 15% or higher at their organization.
Crafting your brand to make it a sales tool actually makes your work easier in more ways than one. The more that clients, vendors, and candidates see a consistent and compelling brand, the easier it will be for you to sell, partner with, or hire them. It also saves you time and money when you need to develop new materials, because you don’t have to reinvent the wheel each time.