The significance of branding to Rwandan businesses goes from making a memorable impression on your consumers to informing them about what to expect from your company. Branding is at the frontline of distinguishing yourself from competitors and clarifying what it is you offer that makes you the better choice. Your brand is built to be a true representation of who you are as a business, and how you wish to be perceived.
Defining your brand
The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging, and promotional materials (all of which should integrate your logo) communicate your brand.
Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming, and uncomfortable but for beginners, it can be simplified by answering these questions.
What is your company’s mission?
the benefits, and the features of your products or services.
The customers and prospects already think of your company.
The qualities do you want them to associate with your company?
Do your research. Learn the needs, habits, and desires of your current and prospective customers. And don’t rely on what you think they think. Know what they think.
How to build your brand in Rwanda.
The next crucial step in building a brand is getting the word out there. Here are a few simple, time-tested tips for Rwanda businesses:
- Get a great logo.
the logo is the most iconic part of any company so it is crucial to get it right.
- Brand messaging.
Define the key messages you want to communicate about your brand and ensure that every employee is aware of your brand attributes.
- Integrate your brand.
Branding extends to every aspect of your business. From how you answer your phones to what you or your salespeople wear on sales calls. Every aspect of your business is associated with the brand.
- Create a “voice” for your brand.
This voice is applied to all written communication and incorporated into the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.
- Tagline.
Write a memorable, meaningful, and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.
- Design brand standards for your marketing materials.
Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don’t need to be fancy, just consistent.
- Be true to your brand and consistent.
Customers won’t return to you or refer you to someone else if you don’t deliver on your brand promise. This also involves all the above and is the most important tip on this list, If you can’t do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.
Benefits of Branding for Rwandan businesses
The purpose of branding building is to simply your customers understand what you offer and how you’re different. And some of its benefits include the following
More People Will Recognize Your Business
One of the most obvious reasons that businesses need branding is to help them get recognized more often. If you have a strong branding for your business, people will naturally take note of it. A business that doesn’t have any cohesive branding isn’t going to stay in someone’s mind for very long.
Branding Can Help Build Trust
Trust from your audience is one of the most important things you can have as a business, but this isn’t always easy to gain. A business that’s missing key elements of branding will have an even harder time getting people to trust them. Branding is something many of us expect to see when we look at businesses in any industry and missing this could be a red flag to some. Without branding, you have very little to show for your business.
It’s Great for Your Employees
Branding provides value inside your company as well. Of course, you want your employees to love working for your company and feel like they’re a part of a team. A company with great branding will have an easier motivating their employees to feel like they’re involved with something more than just a job.
In addition to branding that can help draw in new customers, you also want to invest in the aspects of branding that keep your team motivated. This includes little things like branded apparel and merchandise, but also the look of your entire office space. If you can motivate your employees by creating a sense of unity through branding, you could end up seeing great results all around.
Branding Creates Loyal Customers
You don’t just want customers who recognize your brand and use your business once — you want to create customers who continue to come back. With good branding, you can give your brand a more human side, which your customers can relate to more than a company that’s strictly all business.
Protects the business
Great and intentional branding helps a company survive a temporary crisis. For instance, In 2009, Toyota recalled its cars of a fatal design flaw that was causing the accelerator to get stuck. Eventually, the issue was finally resolved, and Toyota was able to use its reputation and branding to reinstate its position in the global automotive industry.
In many ways, you can appeal to people’s emotions through branding and making them feel more connected to your company. Branding allows you to build relationships with your audience, which can eventually turn them into loyal customers. You can create a brand that people actually care about and put yourself ahead of businesses that aren’t using this to their advantage.
