Elevation for growth: why your brand should evolve with you
Close your eyes and picture the world’s strongest brands. Coca Cola with their enduring Santa design. Amazon with their iconic A to Z. It’s hard to imagine Coke selling nine units a day, or Amazon starting out in a garage. They’re the growth stories we can all aspire to, but they’re also a lesson in brand evolution.
As your business grows, so too should your brand. Your outward presence should be reflective of your professional capabilities. Fail to evolve your brand, and you could find yourself falling behind innovative competitors.
Branding: it’s not just a logo
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your brand assets are your logo alone. There are the design elements, of course, but there is also the value proposition of your business. Your branding is your chance to showcase how you do things and how you differentiate from the competition. As you grow, the following should develop with you:
Design assets
We’ll start with the obvious. A 10-year-old brand should not be using the same free logo that was cooked up in the owner’s bedroom. It needs to reflect your values and standards, and should be consistent across your website, social media, business cards and other promotional/comms materials.
Web presence
Again, we need to move away from the cheap starter kit effect here – even if it is “fake it ‘til you make it”. Today’s savvy consumers will leave your website if it takes more than five seconds to load, so you should invest in reliable, up-to-date web design that meets 2020 standards and customer needs.
Internal tech/resources
Still managing your accounts on spreadsheets? The more you grow, the less time you should waste on manual, tedious tasks. Hire an accountant. Use CRM software. Automate invoicing. Not only does this give you more time to service clients; it gives you a more polished, professional appearance.
Customer segments
As you develop your brand, you may hire new talent or acquire new skills to broaden your services. This opens you up to new markets, so don’t stagnate and let opportunities pass you by. Invest in personal development to enable you to offer a wider range of products and services, and research the market. Make sure your new/pivoted products and services are clearly communicated through all of your design and digital assets.
Don’t be afraid to take risks
Every business decision comes with an element of risk – often financial, but occasionally reputational or personnel-related. Your job is to calculate the risks and reward. Do you have the internal resources to innovate your products? More importantly, do you have a strategy to promote your new developments?
Try to re-evaluate every six months, or when a significant market development takes place. Not everything will go right. But if you’re not moving forward, you’re standing still. From cutting back on waste to pursuing new opportunities, brand elevation is key to growth.
Contact The Growth Guys for more tips on brand elevation.