Every great brand has experienced a slump now and then. Maybe a new and trendsetting competitor has hit the market, maybe consumer income or economics have changed, or maybe your products and services just aren’t hitting the mark anymore.
Whatever the reason, a little brand decline doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel. In fact, it can actually present a great opportunity to step back, reevaluate and pivot your brand so that it’s more effective and profitable in the long run.
Is your brand in a bit of a slump lately? Are sales stagnant or are new customers nowhere to be seen? Here are a few ways you can stop brand decline and get your organization back on track in no time:
- Talk to your customers. Take time to talk to the customers you still have, and get a feel for how your brand is perceived. Why are they still buying from you? What need do you serve for them? Why did they choose you over a competitor? Tap into what it is that is inspiring those buyers (even if it’s only a few!) to choose your brand, and use that information to realign your branding with those customers. There’s a big chance you’re simply targeting the wrong audience with your branding, so a few insight-driven tweaks can go a long way.
- Tune in. Pay attention to what’s being said about you online and in social media. Are there lots of complaints about customer service, shipping or how your products and services work? Is there talk about how X product is better than yours? Check out Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and other online venues, and tune in to the conversation. Find out what’s being said about you and what you can do to change it.
- Loop in your employees. Your team members are probably well aware of the problems that exist with your brand. They may have heard about it on customer service calls, in sales meetings with potential clients or anywhere else in the sales or marketing pipeline. Take time to talk with your team and find out what they know. What do they think is going wrong? What do they suggest could remedy the decline and help you better serve your customers? Get input from every department if possible.
- Check out the competition. If there’s another brand out there giving you a run for your money, make a study of them. What are they doing differently? What makes their products or services stand out? Are there any gaps or holes in their marketing or sales efforts that you can spot? What you learn may offer you a good opportunity to swoop in and steal some customers.
- Make a splash. A great way to ramp up excitement about your brand is to take a new visual approach. Redesign your packaging or labels, redo your logo and make some other eye-catching statement that makes you stand out from the pack. Make sure it’s unique and distinguishable from your original branding, and really try and go out on a limb – do something different and unexpected.
If you think your brand may be in decline, you never want to sit idly by. Start analyzing the marketplace, the conversation and your customers, and take a step back to reevaluate your branding efforts in light of all that. Need help? Want to get your brand back on the track to success? Contact Haley Aerospace today.
