When it comes to branding your business, customer service is vital

Branding is one of the most important aspects of growing a successful business. It’s what sets you apart from the competition. It’s how people identify and connect with you. It’s what you stand for and what you strive to be.

That being said, there’s more to branding than flashy logos and catchy headlines. Here are a few things to keep in mind when creating a comprehensive branding plan for your company:

Define your company and its mission. What is your business all about? How do you want customers to perceive your company? Sure, you provide quality products and services. Dig a little deeper. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers and really think about the things that you want them to see in your business. Spend some time crafting a strong mission statement for your company and refer to it frequently to make sure you’re staying true to your vision.

Make sure your customer service reinforces your brand. Once you have a strong and well-defined company brand, you want your customer service to reinforce that brand. Great customer service can do two important things for any company. It can strengthen your company’s brand and position your company for growth and success. If you don’t yet have the internal ability to deliver the very best customer service experience to your customers, consider outsourcing that critical function to a company that can deliver the high level of customer support your customers deserve.

Find your voice. Choosing an appropriate voice for your business (and sticking to it) will give your brand a strong identity. Do you want your company’s messages to be conversational, or do you want your brand to have a more professional tone? Do you want to sound formal or informal? Your voice should reflect your mission and purpose, and it needs to really resonate with your audience across all areas of your company, including social media and customer service.

Set brand standards. Does your business have a unified logo and color scheme? Everything from your company’s website to advertising to social channels and printed marketing materials needs to have the same look and feel. Even the photography needs to fit the brand’s identity, so make sure you have standards in place before moving forward with any marketing or advertising.

Consistency is key. The most important part of branding is staying consistent. Just like you wouldn’t want your customer service to be great one day and terrible the next time a customer reaches out, you want your brand to be easily defined, understood and reinforced every time a customer has an interaction with you. Straying from your standards is the fastest way to lose your brand’s identity, as well as your audience. You can certainly make small changes every now and then, but you ultimately need to stay true to your brand.