Today every company is working on a plan to drive brand loyalty. The place to start is to ask what the customer expects from your brand. Building a brand is about associating those things with your company in the user’s mind to the point where they aren’t even aware of it. Your brand should find ways to make a natural, positive, emotional connection with your audience. Much emphasis is put on marketing and messages, but how your online pages are designed has a lot to do with creating a good user experience, and that impacts how users relate to your brand.
Connections
By 2018 there’s expected to be 2.67 billion social media users. Social media platforms offer audiences a chance to voice their own opinions and can completely change the way your brand is perceived. The consumer’s voice is influential, and some companies have made responding to that voice an essential part of their branding. If you ask any Business Coach about this he or she would say that if your designs don’t incorporate consumer conversation, you’re in danger of losing touch with your own customers.
Feature your logo
Your brand is embodied in your logo, which has more subtle meaning than you might have thought. For instance, some experts recommend creating logos at a 1:1.61 ratio. Design a logo that works, and use it.
Your vision
Any content that doesn’t fit your vision shouldn’t be used. This concept should be whatever sets your company apart from the competition. This difference is what will provide real value to consumers. While the layouts for many functions such as submission forms can be more basic and quite specific, the over-all context of your online material should support this core concept.
Expressing it should be a comprehensive approach that links the various other interactions your users will have online. This is your brand identity, and reinforcing it where ever possible will keep it in the minds of your visitors. Your identity is also your brand promise to consumers, so your products, services, and marketing should demonstrate your intent to deliver on that promise.
Company goals
Your goals are the long-term vision of what you hope to achieve, whether it’s dominating the market or transforming the way the world thinks. You may have a vision of becoming a multi-national corporation or capturing a reputation for the highest quality in your market.
At times a corporate mission is reduced to a slogan. If your audience detects the separation between mere words and actual intent, they will lose confidence in your brand. It’s important to establish and stick with a vision that will inspire both your company and your prospects. If you have a clear picture of your goals, it’s easier to determine what kind of content supports them, vs designs that are engineered only to amuse.
Your values
Brand value has come to mean different things among marketers and designers. But relating to consumers just who you are and what kind of character drives your company is the core concept. This can be implied or explicitly stated in what you say, but it must be a guiding principle for what you do. Promoting transparency and honesty and then charging hidden fees is a contradiction that consumers won’t overlook or forgive. Your company values are what you stand for.
Every company wants a reputation for admirable traits such as quality, innovation, teamwork, and responsibility. But it can be difficult to capture these values in your content without making what seem like the same overt, hollow promises that other businesses are making. Failure to present your values, however, can result in consumers being left to make their own judgement, or not recognizing any values at all.
Your graphic designs, use of language, training of staff, and website interaction can portray this to visitors without you’re having to explicitly say it. For example, if your run a company that stands behind its products or services, you’ll want to provide prominent and easily understood information on warranties, guaranties, return policies, and so forth. Consider design elements that make these values clear and obvious.
UX
There are a number of standard elements to providing a great user experience (UX). These include clear and simple site navigation, interactive elements to sustain engagement, quality content, and strong customer service. Up to 89 percent of consumers abandon a company that provides poor customer service. However, you aren’t getting full use of these elements if they don’t align with and enhance your branding. There should be no question in the user’s mind about who your company is and what it offers. By establishing a cohesive design, your brand and your content complement each other.
You web designs should be geared toward customer satisfaction. But the customer should also come away with the type of positive associations that will keep them coming back.
Write by Samuel Caverly
