Culture by Design: How to Build a Brand That Feels Personal at Scale

In today’s consumer culture, brands need more than just a strong product to appeal to customers. Consumers today expect a personal connection and seek brands whose culture aligns with their values and preferences. The most recognizable companies in the world, such as Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Netflix, among others, all have a unique culture that customers can recognize and relate to. If you want to design a winning culture by intentionally, authentically, and creatively positioning your brand, here are some tips to get you started!

Highlight Your Authenticity and Value

To build a brand that resonates with customers on a personal level, your company needs to highlight its authenticity and value. The best way to do this is by making your brand feel relatable. Brands should be approachable to attract new customers, vulnerable to earn their trust, and authentic to keep their business. Customers are savvy enough to recognize a strong company culture, and they appreciate storytelling that helps them build a connection to the brand. Customers patronize brands that show they genuinely care about the product and their customers’ opinions. Remember to focus your marketing efforts on highlighting your company’s core values and showing customers that your brand is one they can support with confidence.

Engage With Customers and Partners

To give your brand a personal feel, you’ll need to engage with your customers and partners on a regular basis. Social media, marketing campaigns, and fundraising events are excellent ways to accomplish this while giving your brand the chance to resonate with others. Customers and partners desire a connection so they don’t feel like just another face in the crowd.

The customer journey in the digital world is far more complex than it used to be. Instead of seeing a product online and purchasing it right away, customers are more likely to conduct research, read reviews, leave it in their cart, or browse for lower prices before deciding to make a purchase. Engagement with customers helps build trust and convince them that your brand is worth purchasing from. Brands should be diligent about responding to inquiries, answering questions, and engaging with customers on social media or directly to build trust on a personal level.

Create Personalized and Diverse Content

Brand content has become one of the main ways people consume and engage with digital media. As a business owner, you can’t afford to waste critical opportunities to capture your audience and show them who you are. It’s important to make the content you create personalized and diverse, allowing it to appeal to a wide range of potential customers. You’ll want to experiment with different types of content and post across a variety of platforms. Curate content to your audience’s viewing preferences and incorporate current trends. 

You’ll need to remember your company’s core values and not lose sight of authenticity. Find a viewing audience that aligns with your values and post routinely. Experimentation is a good thing, but don’t get too off-track! Avoid letting your content feel “forced” or unauthentic, and remember not to let it cause you any extra pain or stress either. Trying too hard can make your brand seem inconsistent or phony, so focus on your niche and don’t lose sight of your goals when trying to capitalize on trends.

Mold Your Workplace Culture

A company’s personal identity starts with its employees and leaders. Employees feed off of a company’s internal culture and help project that culture to its audience. Building a strong workplace culture is the first step in creating a globally recognizable brand. Of course, brand-building isn’t magic, but you can help your employees by supporting their commitment and similarities with tools like brand guidelines that they can refer to to keep them on-point. Remember that instilling a healthy culture inside your business is just as important as how you communicate it outwardly to customers.

Focus On The Details

A maniacal focus on the details is critical when establishing your brand’s culture and identity. Everything from your product and customer experience to marketing and support needs to be on-brand. Your company’s identity must be clearly communicated, and your core values should be relatable. Focus on consistent branding messages, all the way down to your website, logos, and font choices. It’s important that you stay on your toes, encouraging creativity while remaining within your brand’s established guidelines. Most importantly, remember that your brand should feel personable and don’t lose sight of your company’s unique connection to customers.

Stand Out From the Crowd

Finally, your brand will need to stand out from the crowd in order to resonate with customers. Today’s market is filled with competition, even if you work in a small industry like chiropractic care. You’ll need unique products/services, stellar marketing, and proper execution to succeed in brand building. The best way to increase your chances of appealing to customers is by differentiating yourself from your competitors in any way possible. Remember to harness the power of creativity and design an eye-popping logo, catchy slogan, and trendy pitch to draw consumers towards your brand. Don’t forget to embrace technology where possible, utilizing tools like social media and digital marketing to help you stand out.