5 Factors To Consider When Hiring A Branding Expert For Your Business

Published on: 30 October 2021 Last Updated on: 18 January 2025

In the last few years, more and more businesses are realizing the importance of branding. As against sales and marketing, businesses know that branding is essential for the long-term vision, sustainability, and growth of an organization.

While many businesses have made the mistake of equating branding with marketing, there is growing awareness that the two are separate in form and function. This is leading many businesses to invest in strategic branding experts that can help them.

In this resource article, we are going to look at five factors that businesses should consider before hiring branding experts, consultants, or strategists. If you are a business owner looking to invest in a long-term branding exercise, this article will guide you in the right direction.

How can a Branding Expert help a Business: What you need to know

Before we get to the list of factors that should be considered, it would be better if we discuss how a branding expert can help a business in the first place.

Business owners are in agreement that branding is important. What they do not know is how they should proceed. Many have the mistaken assumption that branding is only logo designing, social media presence, and marketing!

While this is not entirely false, the above constitutes just about 5% of what branding is all about.

In reality, a branding expert can help a business optimize three main focus areas about the brand-

Tangible Visual Properties- photoshoots, imagery, social media presence, logo designs, color schemas, fonts, website, blog section, and videos.
Tangible Textual Content- brand motto, values, culture, mission statement, blog articles, slogans or taglines, social media copy, and content.
Intangible Brand Promise- credibility, culture, personality, trust, levels and positioning, perception, experiences, customer service, and support.

As you can see from what we have mentioned above, this is a fairly exhaustive list of topics. An experienced and credible branding expert will help you address all the above goals and objectives.

List of 5 Factors to Consider when Hiring a Branding Expert for your Business

1. Creativity-

While technical specializations are an important aspect of the digital age, you want the branding expert/consultant/agency to be creative. Some of the leading brand strategists like Bennet Schwartz have several years of experience as Creative Director. Creativity is an essential factor you should look at as branding is all about good storytelling that captures audiences.

2. Experience-

Being great at branding requires years of experience. This is not something you can get up and get good at. It requires sophistication, expertise, and years of executing marketing and social media strategies. Great branding experts that lead organizations are often Creative Directors with a graphic design or copywriting background. You need to look for at least five years.

3. Past Client Credentials-

If you are lucky enough to get a branding expert that has worked with a business in your niche, you are on the right path. Even if you do not get one, the key is to look at past client portfolios. Ask the agency or expert to take you through the kind of work they did. Focus on both the creative as well as the technical ROIs. Do not hire someone before establishing credentials.

4. Timelines and ROIs on the Project-

Small trick- if the branding expert says that they will get you the moon and stars within six months, they are lying. You should bail immediately. Experts will tell you that branding is a long-term gain where you need to invest for at least two or three years to start seeing results. It is best to get a definite answer in this regard as it will help guide your business expectations.

5. Prices, Payment Structures, and Affordability-

This ultimately depends on what you are asking the branding agency to do. If you want the whole suite of what we mentioned in the earlier sections, you are looking at sizable costs. However, you can always break it up into stages and ensure incremental payments. Make sure to discuss the same with the agency so that there are no problems later on the payment front.

The Final Word

Branding differs from business to business. It is a completely individualized experience that comes with a customized strategy. In other words, what worked for one brand might not necessarily work for someone else. This is something that separates great branding experts from the ones who are just in the market to make some money. If you have any questions, you would like us to address, please let us know in the comments below.

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How Customer Service Is Impacting Your Business In 2022!

High-quality customer service is a crucial element of any client-facing business. It can have a direct impact on the number of sales you make, the morale within your business, and most importantly, the reputation you create surrounding your company. You should invest in customer service so that your business can rise to success, and you can do this by ensuring clear and concise communication with conversational commerce, as well as utilizing in-depth training for employees at all levels. Read on to find out more about how customer service is impacting your business in 2022. 1. Good Reputation One of the main ways that customer service will impact your business this year, and in the future, is that it can help you to build a good reputation. A lot of us will choose to use a business on the recommendation of others, or from reviews we’ve read online – if you are well-known for providing good customer service, going above and beyond what the customer expects, and enhancing the customer’s experience, word of mouth will result in your business achieving a good reputation. This can increase sales and the overall success of your business. 2. Increased sales Good customer service means that more people are likely to use your product and service. If your customers are happy with the service they receive, they’ll likely buy from your business now and in the future. Good word of mouth from happy customers can attract first-time customers to your business, which therefore means an increase in sales. If your employees know the product on offer inside out, talk to customers with confidence and clarity, and go out of their way to help them with any queries or issues they may have, they stand more of a chance of closing the deal and driving sales up. 3. Business morale The way your employees treat customers gives an insight into how they were trained and the morale within the business itself. Good customer service should be evident as soon as customers walk through the door, and it not only reflects well on the business and the product you’re selling, but it also shows that you have dedicated time and effort to choosing the best workers to help the business succeed. Properly training your staff from the day they have hired means that they can uphold your business value and reputation. If you choose the right employee, they will want to help – and providing good customer service will make them feel accomplished, improving the overall atmosphere within the business. 4. Competitive edge The level of customer service that your employees provide within your business has an impact on your competitive edge. In business, there is always going to be a competitor that you’re working alongside, and to make your business a success, you must do all you can to ensure that you’re one step ahead. If your customer feels like they are not being treated as they would expect, they may end up taking their business straight to one of your competitors – good customer service can reduce the chance of this happening. Not only this, but it is also always best that employees know how to diffuse a situation should a customer become disgruntled to alleviate the chance of them shopping elsewhere. 5. Improves overall experience Good customer service simply makes everyone’s lives a little bit easier – the employees, the owners, and the customers. No one wants to spend a chunk of their day trying to solve a problem with a product or service, by being put on hold or not being able to speak to someone about an issue. Good customer service means your business can be accessible to everyone, at any time. Equally, employees don’t want to feel worthless if they haven’t had sufficient training to help a customer or end up having to deal with an unsatisfied, and angry client. Making sure the level of customer service you provide is high, means that you can keep your employees happy, your customers happy, and most importantly, give your business a boost towards success. Additionals: 4 Simple And Cheap Methods To Attract More CustomersTips for ensuring your company’s customers are content with its contentYour Ad Can Show To A Potential Customer When Your Targeted Language MatchesHow U.S.-Based Appointment Reminders Can Help Customers Keep Track of Their Schedule

How Does Creativity Help In Entrepreneurship?

Every entrepreneur and businessman needs some level of creativity. In practice, few people applaud entrepreneurs for their problem-solving innovation. Creativity is frequently regarded as a strength of individuals working in the fields of literature and design. The attitude and technical skills of an investor are no longer limited by creativity. Many individuals, on the other hand, connect creativity with a lack of constraint and feel that it might lead to anarchy. Leadership, on the other hand, is all about maintaining control and maintaining order. As a result, creative entrepreneurship is a great match. To manage a successful business, you no longer need number-crunching abilities and pragmatism. Over time, creativity has evolved into an important aspect of sound commercial judgment. Lack of inventiveness may easily lead to stagnation in your organization. Here are some of the reasons why entrepreneurs need to be creative: High overall success: It is a common fallacy that individuals just use intellect to attain their goals in life. Budding entrepreneurs, on the other hand, take the opportunity to explore that inventiveness is also important. Ironically, many educational institutions place a greater emphasis on intellect than on innovative thinking. It might be because academic knowledge can be measured, but creativity can be difficult to detect. However, the landscape is shifting, and businesses are seeing the value of drawing in creative talent. If you properly harness and cultivate creative employees' abilities, they may be a major breakthrough in your firm. Increase productivity: Creativity enables an entrepreneur to break away from the familiar and venture into unexplored territory in search of novel and effective alternatives. Entrepreneurs are given the required technical capabilities, including visual collaborative efforts frequently mistaken with teleconferencing, to assist their employees in discovering new solutions and suggestions. Exploit employee potential: If you don't encourage workplace innovation, you're undoubtedly only using a fraction of your employees' capabilities. However, businesses are becoming more aware of the vast pool of underutilized and dormant creative solutions. Taking use of all of these possibilities can lead to better financial strategies, more competitiveness, and faster decision-making. Creativity also allows a company to step forefront of the competition. Transcend boundaries: Entrepreneurs can make some of the most groundbreaking discoveries thanks to their creativity. As a result, it's critical to enable conflicts and blur to occur in order to move beyond the bounds imposed by specializations. It becomes simpler for an entrepreneur to gain new insights on a financial or operational challenge in this manner. Entrepreneurs can use creativity to integrate disparate elements and infer viable solutions from seemingly unconnected ideas. Encourage critical thinking: Creativity is gradually proving to be one of the most effective strategies to solve the difficulties that plague today's businesses. Problem-solving is most effective when it is combined with regulated and concentrated thought. Entrepreneurs can operate in one of two ways, divergent or convergent. Convergent thinking entails the in-depth examination and allows a business owner to determine the best practical answer to management or financial challenge. It enables business owners to access data from a variety of sources, including accounting software and computer systems. Divergent thinking, on the other hand, promotes innovation by allowing company owners to consider alternative approaches to the same situation. Although entrepreneurs may use both styles of thinking, divergent thinking guarantees that the optimal answer is found. In fact, it is at this point that an entrepreneur realizes the difference between innovation and invention. The term invention pertains to a creative, original notion, whereas innovation relates to a new and valuable idea. To be innovative, you must be creative and see things from a fresh perspective. It'll be easy to transform a notion into a reality this way. Read Also: Business Tips For Beginner Entrepreneurs 5 Strategic Ways To Automate Your Internal Business Workflows What To Think About When Making A Name For Your Business Lucrative Business Ideas to start Near Water Bodies

Using Digital Signage to Improve Your Business

Digital signage is making a huge impact in the business world today. From outdoor LED neon signs to indoor menu boards, the digital signage industry is changing the way companies connect with customers. Businesses that utilize digital signs are able to engage with their audiences in more meaningful and memorable ways. Having digital led signage shows you are innovative, ahead of the curve, and interested in connecting with millennial customers. It invites your guests to fully immerse themselves in the interactive experience with your brand. The best part is that digital signs are versatile—there are multiple ways to use them to your company’s advantage, and how you incorporate them will largely depend on your brand identity. Let’s examine a few ways that businesses are using custom LED signs to improve the way they interact with customers. Using Digital Signage to Improve Your Business: 1. Digital Menu Boards: If your business utilizes a menu of items for purchase or consumption, a digital menu board could be a valuable addition. Digital menu boards use LED sign technology to dazzle your customers with bright, gorgeous colors and vivid images that pique their appetites. They are easy to update, making seasonal item rotations easy and cost-efficient. They also add a sense of freshness to a guest’s encounter with your brand. While printed menu boards remain static and immovable, digital menu boards allow constant refreshing of your space with minimal cost. What does the future hold? Some companies are exploring ways to customize users’ visits by adapting menu boards to their preferences and local or seasonal events in the area. Digital kiosks directly at the table are becoming more commonplace, allowing guests more control over their dining experience. Also, having a live screen during the ordering process can eliminate mistakes if guests notice their order isn't listed correctly. In the end, all of these things merge to enable you to run a more efficient business with happier, more satisfied customers. 2. Connect Via Social Media: Many businesses these days are using in-house digital displays to share what guests on social media channels are posting about them. This is a fantastic way to engage your audience, especially the younger demographic. Better yet, all of this is user-generated content, which takes the burden off you. It enhances the customer experience and really makes them feel like part of your brand. It also offers you free viral marketing as customers become excited about the possibility of seeing themselves on the board, and it gives them a chance to see what other people are saying about your brand in real-time. Read also: Social Media Marketing Role In Technology To encourage participation, make sure you include a call-to-action that will flash on the screen, inviting users to share their thoughts. You could even add an incentive, such as the chance to win a free treat in a random drawing. People love to win, and they’re more invested in businesses when they feel like they’re an integral part of the brand. 3. The Various Uses of Digital Displays: Interactive Digital signage offers a valuable way to convey information in a variety of places. It can be used to transmit valuable information or health and safety notices. Companies can use them internally to motivate employees by showcasing company values or exciting news about business successes. Movie theaters use them to show their constantly updating array of showtimes. And they can help save lives. Healthcare facilities use them to assist patients, both with wayfinding signs and with digital displays in rooms and hallways that provide relevant information about their visit. The point is that anyone can find ways to integrate digital signs and displays into their market; it's just a matter of figuring out how they can best benefit your brand. However, your business can use digital signage, simply having it is the first step toward future innovation. A study by local business marketer Yodle shows that while consumers prefer supporting local brands, they also expect them to be digitally-savvy. And what better way to set yourself apart than being at the forefront of the digital revolution? Read Also: How Continuous Improvement Can Benefit Your Business 5 Intelligent Sources To Boost Business Strategies All Over The World Why Email Marketing Is The BEST Digital Marketing Outreach In Singapore Start-Up Business Management: How To Reduce Risk And Guarantee Success

5 Factors To Consider When Hiring A Branding Expert For Your Business

How can a Branding Expert help a Business: What you need to know