The Secret Behind a Strategic & Thoughtful Brand Experience

What do you think is stopping you from growing your business?

It's common for business owners to think that the one thing stopping them from growing their business is their visuals. They believe if they upgrade their logo, website, and social media, they will start getting more long-term clients and generate more revenue. In a strategy session with my client, she was shocked at how bad her onboarding process was. She wasn't communicating as well as she could be with her clients. When we finally dove deeper into her business, she saw how her onboarding process held her back so much from reaching the people she wanted to help.

When it comes to your business, it's either you intentionally build your brand or people will brand you.

Because your brand is built on customer’s perception and gut feeling about the business and everything you do for them, this is something inevitable. Every time your customer comes in contact with your product, your team, your email—they will build up into your customer's overall experience with your brand. This experience will determine how they see your brand in their minds.

Regardless of where you are in your business and how you feel about your current branding, people are already building their perception if they are interacting with your brand and business. But here's the great news: what you can control are the values that your brand wants to stand for, the strategy that you want to use to connect with your ideal customers, and the way you craft your brand experience.

The elements that make up a brand experience are called brand touchpoints.

Brand touchpoints involve everything that allows people to experience the brand. This includes a website, email marketing, social media accounts, packaging, products, customer service, visuals, and more. Basically, anything that leaves an impression about your brand on the customer's mind.

• VISUAL TOUCHPOINTS.

  • Visual touchpoints are everything people see that relates to the brand. From logos, color palettes, icons, photography, to website layout. It includes the way you present yourself on your social media and your email newsletters. If you're selling a product and they receive the product in handmade packaging, we consider this packaging as a visual touchpoint too.

• PEOPLE TOUCHPOINTS.

  • Your team represents your brand. Anyone that is working with you—whether they are your virtual assistant, business partner, or freelancer, they all are included as people touchpoints. The way your teammates experience the brand culture and values will determine what they say about the brand and how they behave towards it. This is why even your customers are considered as people touchpoints too because the way they advocate about the brand will influence the way other people perceive it too.

• BUSINESS TOUCHPOINTS.

  • All the systems and structures set in place will influence the brand experience too. Your onboarding process, service structure, and referral system add up to how customers experience the brand. Here we're trying to answer questions like 'What are you doing to encourage people to advocate for you?' or 'How easy it is for people to find information on your social media, emails, and website?'.

Being aware of brand touchpoints allows you to create a brand and business that intentionally connects with customers.

At the end of the day, it's not just about the visuals. Every brand touchpoint is connected to other brand touchpoints because they are a part of a bigger ecosystem within your brand and business. It all adds up to this one big brand experience. When these touchpoints are not consistent and cohesive, it negatively impacts the brand experience, which then also negatively impacts the emotional connection between the brand and the customers.

Many business owners care so much about bringing an impact to their customers and community, but they don't think about the way they are impacting their people, their team, and their partners. The way they treat people within the business speaks about the brand and it will determine how these people represent the brand to the greater audience.

This is the same when it comes to your customers. Your branding doesn't stop when they finish purchasing your product or when they leave your physical store or website. When they start using your product; when their friends ask them about what they think about completing a transaction through your website; what comes to their mind when they see your email newsletter pop into their inbox—these moments matter. These touchpoints will influence the emotional connection and relationship people have with the brand.

You create a cohesive brand experience by having an established brand at the foundation.

What I care most about with my clients is not just great visuals. I care about how your business is actually working for you. I want you to see how your brand is working for you, to see that there are smaller components you can work on to streamline everything that happens behind the scenes, and intentionally craft a brand experience that develops trust with your customers. Visuals are just a representation of your business from the outside, it doesn't cover up how you do it behind the scenes.

How can you create a cohesive brand experience through these brand touchpoints? By having an established brand at the foundation. When you are clear on what you're building towards, it's easier for you to build your brand touchpoints and stay consistent.