With today’s business landscape more volatile than ever, it’s especially important for you to create and maintain a strong brand that will weather the storm.

What can you do to keep your brand identity strong? Here are some ideas:

1. Identify the right target market.

What specific needs does your audience have? How well does your business meet them? Have you mapped your organization’s customer journeys and created content that supports them?

2. Lead with storytelling that personalizes your brand.

Focus on how your product or service meets the needs of individual customers and tailor your messaging accordingly.

3. Be transparent about your mission and values.

Your customers will respect you for it, and in today’s social media landscape, respect means recommendations you can’t afford to lose.

4. Create a brand standards manual.

This manual will help you enforce the visual and verbal consistency of your content across social media, print and digital advertising, email campaigns, and anywhere else your brand may appear online—and tie all of that messaging back to your website. If you don’t, you risk losing customers who think your site content contradicts itself or may even be outdated.

5. Recognize that maintaining uniformity across your brand will help you build trust.

It’s been shown numerous times that upholding brand consistency can create impressive revenue gains—and that discarding it can hurt your brand and your business. Coca-Cola executives learned this the hard way when they dropped their classic formula and had to reinstate it after facing enormous backlash from customers.

6. Tailor your branding experience to your customers’ needs.

Keeping overall aesthetics and color psychology in mind will help you create a user experience that’s both attractive and comfortable. To promote inclusivity and reduce the risk of costly lawsuits, follow the current website accessibility standards. [Link to accessibility page—I’m using the original blog post for now because a news-focused version will be coming later.]

7. Provide a clear explanation of what your organization offers and what it values.

Whether you’re creating a website, an email campaign, or a social media post, your content should make it easy for prospective customers to get in touch, get started, and ultimately make a purchase.

8. Harness the power of like, follow, and share buttons.

Make it easy for your customers to connect with you on social media. At a time when writing a recommendation is as easy as pushing a button, the fact that users share your content on their social media pages helps to build trust with your audience and increase traffic. It’s your job to cultivate that positive feedback and engage your followers by posting regularly.

9. Personalize the customer experience.

Send customized emails, texts, or newsletters offering exclusive deals based on previous purchases, newcomer status, or even birthdays; customers appreciate discounts. If you market services rather than products, consider offering consultation time free or at a reduced rate.

10. Prioritize customer service.

Clients and customers won’t tolerate being treated as numbers or issues. And as a business owner with a brand to protect, you shouldn’t tolerate it either. Make personalized customer service—be it through telephone calls or live chat—central to your organization and your brand. Your balance sheet will thank you.

The take-aways? Know who your customers are, and communicate with them consistently, regularly, and clearly. Doing so will help your brand speak for itself and help you gain—and keep—many satisfied customers.

Award-winning Atlanta graphic design agency Badie Designs LLC offers innovative marketing and branding solutions online and in print. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.