Danger! Brand muddle ahead! Why you need to sharpen your online strategy

When you think about your business, you may see it as creative, innovative or a great service provider. But does this match the impression customers actually have of you?

Perhaps you have a lack of confidence when it comes to talking about your brand? A vague unease, multiple social media personalities and a lack of brand enthusiasm internally are all symptoms of a classic case of muddle.

Brand muddling is not helped by ‘brand strategy’ being a tool that tends to be rather over-complicated and lengthy. Whether you decide to appoint an agency or piece together who you are as a brand yourselves, by the time you have the end result, you may have forgotten what those brand values really mean, and what to do next.

Not knowing how to translate your brand into the online world is what causes the muddle, and it’s OK because it’s not easy. We believe it takes just a bit of awareness and action to create a successful strategy, and avoid the pitfalls of the muddle. After all, you don’t want a flock of confused customers out there, or worse, customers that don’t realise how brilliant you are.

Fixing that tricky case of brand muddle in two easy steps

Step one: Awareness

• Start on the inside - share, celebrate and debate what you stand for as a brand and what this means for your business. How your employees translate your brand might throw up powerful idiosyncrasies that you would not have found on your own.
   
• Take some time - use the first hour of your day to call your key clients and talk to them about your new strategy and what this means to them.
  
  If you feel embarrassed about doing this, then your strategy isn’t usable enough. You need to feel concise, confident and proud of your brand.

Step two: Take action

• Think about just three great things you can do across all your touch points that really reflect who you are. This could be a playful social media campaign, celebrating a business anniversary or launching a series of animations or infographics.
   
• Create a road map – we know it’s essential to have a plan, not only of what you’re going to do, but when, why, where and to whom. There’s nothing worse than a poorly timed, badly worded or untargeted bit of communication to cause a muddle.