Have you ever pulled a carton of milk out of the fridge, only to find it spoiled?  Do you remember how bad the spoiled milk smelled? 

Letting your business’s brand presence slip is very similar to a carton of spoiled milk.  It might not make you nauseous, but it will certainly cost you money.  One of the most important tasks that you have as a business owner is to keep your brand fresh, in order to attract new customers and keep your existing ones.

Keeping your brand fresh is really not that complicated.  You can do so by simply going over a few basic steps periodically.

Step One: Define (and re-define) your Brand

Your brand may change over time.  As your business expands, you may alter the image that you want to convey to customers.  You will have to go back and redefine your brand occasionally to make sure that it is fresh and up to date.  If you started off by presenting your company as the only local company with a business touch, but now you want to accentuate your lower prices, you will definitely need to change the way you present yourself to customers.  Re-evaluate your brand periodically.

 

Step Two: Decide how to Present your Brand

Once you know what image you want to convey to customers, you then have to determine how to do so.  Your method of brand delivery will also change over time.  When your business first started, you may not have had a large enough budget to do much advertising.  You probably presented your brand primarily through face to face contact with people who came into your store.  As you have grown, and hopefully become successful, your advertising budget has likely grown as well.  That allows you to present your brand to a much wider audience.  You can now put messages conveying your brand on color brochures, printed posters, notepads, custom catalogs, and maybe even on television. 

 

Step Three: Make it Happen

Now you know what brand image you want to convey to customers, and you know how you want to do so.  The final, and most important, step is to actually do it.  Let’s say you have decided to do a brochure printing emphasizing your brand.  Before you jump into the job, shop around for a reputable printer.  Talk to the printer’s designers and make sure you come up with a design that will really make your message jump out at customers.  Even though you want to get your brand out there as quickly as possible, it is still in your best interest to take the time to do it right.

If you go over these three steps repeatedly, you should be able to keep your brand fresh and in the minds of your customers (and potential customers).  Keep thinking of new ways to tell people about your business and the image you want your business to project.  And don’t forget about your existing customers!  Talk to them and find out what they think about your company.  Determine ways to ensure that your existing customers know everything you want them to know about your business.

Don’t let your brand get spoiled!