How to bring your branding "A" game

On the heels of VantagePoint’s first Insight2Impact Foodservice Summit, hosted in downtown Greenville, I came across an interesting read on company branding from HubSpot. Beyond just concisely breaking down major, yet simple, components of bringing a corporate brand to life, the article also underscored several key takeaways that were emphasized to Summit attendees during the sessions of the two-day event.

While this particular article helps outline how to start or continue building your corporate brand without breaking the bank, five of the six steps it recommends are foundational elements we wholeheartedly stand behind here at VantagePoint.

The basic building blocks of your company’s brand don’t necessarily require a lot of cash but do require knowing (or developing) the answers to several key questions or ideas:

1. Knowing your personas. Summit participants heard Jon Schneider, VantagePoint’s director of research & strategy, speak to the role of personas and buying influencers in his presentation on the “National Chain Account Buyer Journey.” As the article states, it’s no coincidence that 82% of companies with better value propositions also use buyer personas. A strong understanding of the needs, goals and behaviors of your potential customers helps you identify what media they’re consuming, where they’re consuming it and what motivates them. This information allows companies to develop a truly compelling brand messaging strategy and reach the right audience.
2. Building your brand voice. Also at the Summit, VantagePoint public relations manager Andrea Simrell spoke to the role of content marketing in business branding and the importance of brand voice. What tone are you going to use for your public communications? It should to speak to your core values and how you want your customers and audience to think about (and talk about) you. And the way you get them to do that is through…
3. A consistent and relevant social media presence. Once you know who your audience is, how you want to talk to them and what to say, you need to be able to reach them. Once you establish that presence, the beauty is in the continuity. Make sure you’re consistent in tone, frequency and relevancy.
4. Blog it out. You know we like to beat this drum. Blogging is one of the most effective — and personal — ways to articulate your brand voice. If you’re already doing this, try sprucing it up with some guest bloggers and adding content experts to round out your material.
5. Making customers number one. At the end of the day, your brand should be built on the cornerstone of delighting your customers and clients. While your brand should be own-able — true to who you are as a company, your mission, vision and core values — it should also strive to attract and delight customers at every step.
   

To learn several other ways to start or continue to build out your brand, head on over to Hubspot’s article. And share some of your successes in brand building in the comments below.