Financial services brands operate in an unusually competitive space. So how do you gain prospects’ trust in such a fiercely competitive sector? It’s all about creating compelling branding. You build an effective brand identity, define your vision and mission, and take them seriously. Understanding your audience is vital to a powerful brand, as is making sure your value proposition is crystal clear. And consistency must inform every branding decision you make. Here’s how professional financial services branding agencies do it.
Define your vision and mission
Too many businesses devise a mission statement, decide on a vision, then leave it at that. But they’re both much more important than a ‘nice to have’. The key is actually achieving your mission and fulfilling your vision. Without a clearly defined vision and mission you can’t build a workable strategy, or know when you’re on track to hitting your goals.
· A Vision Statement summarises what the business should look like in future, not where the company is at the time the Statement is written. This is where you’ll be once your brand has been built.
· A Mission Statement defines the business, laying the foundation of the brand identity, defining goals and proposing how to do it.
Understand your audience
Who buys from you? You need to define and understand your target audience if you want to attract and keep customers. When you specifically define a target audience, looking at data like gender, age, location, occupation and income, you can make sure the company’s message appeals strongly to the demographic, meeting their needs. This gives your brand the laser-focus it needs to appeal directly to people rather than generic branding with a wide appeal but very little engagement.
What are people’s main problems and desires? How do they find companies to buy from? And why would they choose you above the rest?
Clarify your value proposition
If you’re not clear about why people should come to you, neither is your audience. A value proposition is all about differentiating your business from the rest. What do you do better, faster, cheaper or more professionally than your competitors? Do you do great things the rest don’t? How do your products and services benefit customers and prospects? And why do your loyal long term customers stick with you through thick and thin? Knowledge is power. Know all this, roll in your mission and goals, and make sure you can deliver everything people want.
Consistent branding
It’s hard to trust a brand whose look, feel and personality are all over the place. Consistent branding is absolutely crucial to brand recognition and trust. Make your brand unique so it stands out from all the other financial services brands. Create a brand book so everyone at the company knows exactly how to express your logo, use the brand colours properly, use the right font in the right style and size. And design a logo that will pull it all together.
Great branding 101
Great branding tells people your story without a multitude of words. It speaks clearly and confidently, reflecting exactly what you do, for whom, and how. It’s easy for people to recognise at a glance and at a distance. It evokes your mission and vision powerfully in an inspiring way. Do all of the above and you’ll get where you need to be.
