How do I make my brand stand out?

In a world where the market is more crowded than ever, making your brand stand out is not just important; it's essential for survival. This is especially true across all sectors and industries, where a distinct brand identity can mean the difference between being remembered and being overlooked. Fragmented branding, or the lack of a unified brand strategy, can dilute your message and confuse your audience, undermining your efforts to establish a strong presence. In this post, we'll delve into the pitfalls of fragmented branding and underscore the importance of a unified brand approach. We'll back up our insights with solid facts and statistics, providing you with a clear roadmap to elevate your brand above the competition. Whether you're a startup looking to carve out your niche or an established player aiming to refine your brand's voice, this guide is tailored for you.

What is fragmented branding?

Fragmented branding occurs when a company's marketing messages and brand identity are inconsistent across different platforms and channels, leading to confusion among customers and diluting the brand's overall impact and recognition. It's like trying to piece together a puzzle where the pieces don't quite fit, resulting in a disjointed image of what the brand truly represents.

Fragmented branding encompasses individual elements of your brand, that are most likely fit for purpose, however do not convey a message of unification aligned with other elements of your strategy. In order to establish trust between your brand, stakeholders, shareholders and consumers alike, it is vital to form a thought out, comprehensive structure to your approach to brand positioning, brand messaging and overall, your brand identity.

How to make your brand stand out.

Now that we understand the definition of fragmented branding, you should be able to ask yourself some key questions in order to identify your current position:

• Have I used the right tone on my channels?
• Do I have a clear message throughout all touchpoints of my brand?
• Does our consumer understand what we do?
• Is my message accessible on all levels, for employers, employees, temporary or external staff?

If you have identified some struggle in these areas, the common thread will now become more clear. A study by Demand Metric revealed that inconsistent branding can lead to a 23% decrease in revenue because of confused or alienated customers. Without addressing the pain points of your internal operation, it is impossible to cater for the confusion a consumer has. What does this mean?

Imagine this, a client has heard that I provide top services in portrait painting, so has been lead to my sales funnel from an external channel. They have stopped by my Instagram, which hosts a series of personal posts, reels about the concerts I have been to recently and dots and dabs the portraits that I paint. Upon not finding anywhere near enough information on my social media platform they have decided to scour for a website, most likely checking my bio first. If I have not appropriately linked my website they have already (in most cases) decided that they cannot trust my model enough because they are having to work too hard to fall into my sales funnel. Alternatively, as a solution, if my Instagram was entirely devoted to my work, with a particular brand identity that is strategised, uniformed and conveys my knowledge, skill and diversity to a client, I can expect that by the time they get to my website link in my bio they have already decided that they are getting in touch for a quote.

Whilst this is a very basic example of the effect fragmented branding can have on your business, this complication only scales with the size of your venture. Effectively communicating a clear outline of what a client can expect, how they can expect it to happen and where it can lead them to once you have worked with them, can significantly impact your sales revenue and your scalability as you continue to grow. The recent Lucidpress study reported that consistent brands are 3.5 times more visible to their customers than those with inconsistent branding. At any level of growth, these statistics clearly outline the impact unclear messaging has on a brand against competitors.

How do I bring my brand identity together?

Simply, Unifying brand strategy to be aligned across all touchpoints. When we talk about brand unification, we are directly referencing your messaging and it's ability to represent your core values, your iconography and graphic designs, your creative writing, and just about anything that encompasses your image. The process that we use specifically, has proven for our own business endeavors and those of the clients we have helped amplify their own message, that approaching infrastructure with cohesivity in mind is critical to build your brand to not only outlast competitors, but to define your presence so strongly in the market that you have essentially left the competition behind.

A recent statistic from Frontify showcases that 57% of customers spend more on brands to which they are loyal. This loyalty stems from a continuous positive emotional experience and satisfaction with the products, demonstrating how unified branding efforts that resonate with consumers can foster loyalty and increase customer lifetime value. More so, Frontify have research that indicates  using unified branding built with a strong reputation and emotional connection with its audience can command higher prices, as loyal customers show lower price sensitivity. This is indicative of the value placed on the brand beyond just its products or services, allowing for greater pricing flexibility and profitability. Both of these statistics clearly portray the importance of having a credible, thought out brand messaging system.

Tips and reminders to address fragmented branding:

We recognise the struggle of building a brand which is why we want to help you avoid some of the real red flags of brand development.

1. Always ensure that individual services that produce isolated elements of strategy fit into your brand story - we have seen business stagnate and fail directly because of this.
2. Ensure your whole team understands and replicates your brand tone and values - a 'kink' in the chain can be enough to throw a consumer off of your product. The most effective way to align a strategy is to have everyone on board and working to the same goal.
3. Identify the holes in your strategy - a good exercise that we ask our clients to use at Breakthrough Branding is for every team member to pitch their business the same way they would to a multi-millionaire investor, it can be really insightful, positive feedback on where you need to direct your brand positioning so that your team can be aligned.
4. Don't disregard elements of brand strategy - again this can directly impact your sales and growth. Flexibility is vital in order to develop your understanding of how you can best position your brand to maximize lead generation and conversion using all of the tools at your disposal.
5. Keep trying! - it can feel like you are failing to achieve in strategy, because the results are not necessarily always direct. However staying consistent will prove to be more sustainable in the future. If you put the footwork in today it will be easier when you are trying to grow into a new area of your venture.

Remember, brand strategy should work for you, not you for it.

If it feels unachievable to maintain a clear and consistent brand message, it will be because there is too much inconsistency in your messaging, rendering different types of content bespoke. Brand strategy is all about cycling content, creating content that is evergreen, so that you can align your message in a cyclic manner, to generate and convert more leads using trust and relatability.

How to Create Your Brand Legacy Today

If you are ready to propel your brand legacy to new heights, book your free 30 minute discovery call with us today via the link below. We amplify your message to help you catapult your sales.

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