Philippa Haynes explains how accountants can approach branding when they have a portfolio career in our forthcoming webinar. In this article, she explains more about why you need to have a brand.
Every business owner should not only be thinking about their brand but using it! A strong brand is the difference between a mediocre business with no apparent substance and a confident business that knows what it stands for and how it can help.
So what is your brand, and why, as an accountant, do you need one?
What is branding?
Branding is your business identity, the character of the venture you run and how everyone outside your company sees you.
Little or large, your business is unique, and branding brings your distinctive qualities to market. Importantly, you control your brand, and you decide what you stand for and how you’re going to communicate that to the world.
Your brand incorporates many aspects of your business; it’s not just a logo and strapline. It should manifest itself throughout your company and bring clarity to not only you as a business owner but to your clients too.
The background
So, what sets you apart from other FDs, accountants or business advisers? Do you offer services that others don’t? Do you approach your work in a unique way? Or do you have an off-the-wall personality that engages clients and bring a different dimension to your business? A brand needs to be cohesive, consistent and confident.
What does branding do?
Essentially, your brand acts as your business representative, an avatar that stands in when you’re not there. And when you are there, it determines how you interact with your clients. So whether you’re communicating through email, via your website, in marketing campaigns or on social media, your clients can clearly identify that it’s your business they’re interacting with.
Good branding is essential in developing a relationship with your prospects and clients; it supports your marketing and will help you attract the right businesses to you. A good brand at the end of the day will also add an intangible, but increasingly important, value to your business (especially if you consider wanting to sell at some point in the future).
What should your brand include?
Everything your business says or does should be on-brand. Your branding should include a logo, a defined look (with colours), your chosen font and your brand voice, but should also extend to your business vision and mission, your company values and your unique selling point. Everything your client sees, hears and feels, whether online or in person, should be unique to you.
The lasting impression
As a portfolio FD, consultant, interim or adviser, if you’re in accounting, you should be thinking about your brand strategy (the thinking behind the brand decisions that you make). Branding isn’t wishy-washy; it involves psychology, strategic thinking and analysis. It’s the initial impression you give and the lasting impression you leave, so don’t leave it to chance.
Defining your brand isn’t simple, but it’s worth it.
*The views expressed are the author’s and not ICAEW’s.