A unique branding strategy is the backbone of your business. It’s the story your business tells with its content – be it the colors, the images, or even the fonts on your website.
A branding strategy creates sociability, relatability, and reminds customers of why they choose to go to your business.
And with a well-coordinated branding strategy, your brand identity would shine across all tiers of your company, from marketing and customer support to sales reps and HR teams.
Without a strong, unique, clear branding strategy, businesses get drowned on the Internet, where information is thrown at web denizens every second. Creating a unique brand that instantly impacts the viewer is no easy task. But this is where experienced brand coaches come in.
Branding coaches. Brand Strategists. Brand Designers. Brand Consultants. Regardless of the title they use, branding coaches work directly with entrepreneurs and small business owners to create a brand that resonates with viewers and stands out by far.
Article Contains:
- 1What Is Branding Coaching?
- 2Do Branding Coaches Also Help With Personal Brands?
- 3Why Is Branding Coaching So Important For Your Business?
- 4How Does Brand Coaching Work?
- 5What Does Working With A Branding Coach Look Like?
- 6How Fast Can You Get Results From Branding Coaching?
- 7How To Become A Branding Coach
What Is Branding Coaching?
Did you know that people need to see your brand at least 5–7 times before they can trust your brand? And it must not always be in the same place. The highest brand recognition is found when brand identity is developed across multiple locations, be it social media, podcast ads, billboards, mailers, etc.
Brand Coaching is effective because it helps you develop a branding strategy that helps you present your brand to your ideal customers in a way that stays with them. This is a two-part process that combines brand development and brand presentation. As a result, you get increased brand awareness, a consistent look, and feel, and a growing base of loyal customers.
Brand coaches charge fees that can vary from $120 per hour to even $600 per hour. Expert branding coaches may even charge upwards of $1200, making it a very lucrative career option for those interested in this niche of business coaching.
Do Branding Coaches Also Help With Personal Brands?
Your personal brand creates trust and respect among your target audience, and your target audience is always watching which is why your branding should always be on point.
82% of buyers are more likely to trust the company if a company’s leader or spokesperson has a positive social media presence. That’s why personal branding has become a very effective tool for entrepreneurs and executives who want to launch multiple companies, launch their initiatives, and run profitable businesses.
How to present yourself to the world, and how to position yourself within the industry, are important aspects of a personal brand that branding coaches can help develop. Your branding coach will use similar questions and research to help you build a personal brand that is as effective as your own business.
Branding your business is a powerful step in preparing your business for more growth and more sales, but a solid personal brand can impress your target audience as well as increase it.
Why Is Branding Coaching So Important For A Business?
Branding has always been an important part of establishing your company as the best among your competitors. But how does branding add value? Let’s look at a few ways in which good branding can completely transform your company or business.
Your brand represents your promise to your customers
The first reason branding is important, perhaps the most important is that it makes a very simple promise to your customers.
Good brands always tell their customers what to expect and what to stand by when working with them. And a great side benefit of this promise is that it keeps you honest with yourself. After building a brand that innovates, if you don’t deliver the quality of experience, you had promised your potential customers, the market will tell you clearly that you are not delivering on your promise by losing sales and diminishing returns. The reverse is also true. If you deliver that brand experience, it’s time to rain money.
Brand identity becomes clear and focused
The second reason why it is difficult to overestimate the importance of branding has already been addressed above. As soon as you told someone who you were, you implicitly told them who you weren’t. And when it comes to positioning your company well in the market, it’s often much more important to show how you are different and leagues beyond other major players.
Your brand identity becomes your purpose statement. It will be something you can count on whenever a “great new opportunity” presents itself.
Is it consistent with who you are and what you ask your customers to expect from you?
If that’s a no, can it? It’s not worth it.
Branding ups the value for every process the customer goes through
When dealing with a well-branded company, the “feel” has to be personal and likable. Every aspect of the transaction feels smooth and natural to the customer.
No aspect of the sales process makes them feel like they’ve made a subpar choice. The mere completion of a “transaction” is a surefire way to ensure future emails go unopened, future calls go unanswered, and lame Christmas baskets get eaten and thrown out without anyone caring. If the client does not feel like your brand connects to them personally, they will not remember you.
Branding creates emotion around your brand
Your service or product will never go away if you have a memorable brand, a story that is easy to tell and share with others. You have to find emotion in it.
Modern behavioral science has made it clear that we are emotional, instinctive beings. We all want to make the best, most logical choices. Make a list of pros and cons. We call referrals and talk to colleagues who have used our service before, but at the end of the day, your decision subconsciously depends on how you feel and the emotions you have when you make a choice.
A brand built on evoking customer sentiment will constantly be crushing competitors who talk about features and benefits.
Well-defined brands guide advertising and marketing
Once you know what kind of business you’re going to be, or don’t plan to do, know exactly what the story is and how your customers feel when working with you. Target what you want. Efforts have been dramatically strengthened.
The loss of time and opportunity is undoubtedly great. When you avoid working on your branding, you may end up spending tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars of advertising for years without a clear branding strategy or emotional trigger, and end up with few newer customers, as a result.
A strong brand attracts and retains employees
With a well-defined brand and a clear internal communication strategy, people can work more comfortably for you. And when they should work for you, they stay longer, move, think a little faster, and don’t easily distract from nonsense.
Even employees are no different from customers. They, too, want a story. They want to know what they are doing and why they are doing it. They want to know what is expected of them, both by their customers and their leadership. Most importantly, they want to feel good about the company they follow, trust, and stand for. You are responsible for helping them tell this story.
It’s a story they tell their spouse, their children, their parents, and their neighbors. Make sure they’re all telling the same version of this story and that they’re excited about it.
Attractive brands attract top talent
People are attracted to companies that are great, do good work, and win. No one wants to be on the losing side. A strong brand naturally positions you as a successful company that does great things. And that means that if a candidate had to choose whom to give their life to, they would most likely choose you.
A strong brand builds economic value for your business
At the end of the day, branding is just about creating financial value, be it through sales, growth, or breaking into new markets.
All this happens when a new or established company has a strong brand history. They know who they are, what they do, what customers get from working with them, and what satisfaction employees get from working for them. This story drives everything from sales to investments.
How Does Brand Coaching Work?
A brand is more than the products and services you (or your clients) offer. It’s about your values, your actions, your vision, your voice, and more. You and your branding coach work together to develop a strategy and branding style based on four key factors.
a. Vision
These are the core values, mission, and vision that guide the company. And they are the heart of your brand.
b. Positioning
How do you present yourself in the market? Are you a luxury brand? A cheap, affordable brand? An environmentally friendly brand? Your positioning guides the brand strategy that you and your Brand Coach develop.
c. Audience
Who do you sell to? What do they think? What do they want? What do they do? Successful brands speak directly (and intimately) to the specific audience they are trying to reach.
d. Culture
Your brand is not cut off from the world. It’s placed in the middle of multiple key demographics that would have certain cultural traditions that they take pride in. Use them as a part of your brand, to have relatability.
What Does Working With A Branding Coach Look Like?
The process of onboarding a branding coach would look like this:
- Sign up for brand coaching with a reputed branding coach.
- Complete an in-depth branding questionnaire or interview to help your new brand coach learn more about your business.
- Begin one-to-one sessions with your branding coach. The frequency is left up to the client.
You can ask your branding coach anything. You can talk about the history of your brand, about building a passionate social media community, ideas for new logos and visual brands, and even how your in-house marketing team can help improve your business communications.
Your branding coach is a true personal branding expert, guiding you through every step of your journey, from founding a company to rebranding. That means less googling, less guesswork, and more growth.
How Fast Can You Get Results From Branding Coaching?
Brand coaches who understand the branding industry can change your business in just one session. In one session, your branding coach will give you interesting ideas you’ve never thought of before, unleash your inspiration and instantly change the way you do business.
However, to be more realistic, crafting a beautiful brand takes time. The best brands in the world, the ones that have become instantly recognizable personalized brands, aren’t built overnight. Building a successful brand requires careful planning, strategy, implementation, and development.
Branding, like many other types of consulting services, takes a long time to work. When you start brand coaching, try to be consistent for at least six months. This time frame allows you and your team to begin building brand and value, creating compelling marketing material, researching your audience, and fine-tuning your strategy as you discover new insights.
How To Become A Branding Coach
Branding coaches are brand-building professionals who guide clients in brand conception, development, and management.
Becoming a coach doesn't require - but strongly recommends - getting certified by a training platform with proper accreditation which mandates a specific number of hours spent in training and practice to complete the certification.
Finding a certification specifically on branding coaching might be a challenge, but as it is a part of business coaching and consulting, the best approach could be to get a Business Coaching Certification, such as the one offered at Evercoach, to have a more holistic understanding about coaching businesses and specialize on the branding and marketing branch. Or you can get any of our Evercoach Coaching Certifications for the basic training on coaching skills and methodologies, and then take complimentary courses and trainings on branding and marketing.
Many business leaders outsource branding to other creative agencies, but most entrepreneurs today wish to understand their brand deeply and control the success of their brand themselves. Undoubtedly, the branding industry is evolving, and the demand for experienced and professional branding coaches is increasing.
If you take the time to develop yourself as a branding coach, you can position yourself to meet this growing demand and thrive. If you’re eager to establish yourself in this field, head on over to Evercoach, where we can help you achieve the coaching career of your dreams.
