What is a brand consultant?
A brand consultant’s role is to create a strong brand identity for your organization. They accomplish this by analyzing your current branding, formulating strategies for improvement and growth, and ensuring that your brand’s message is consistent and communicated effectively. The desired outcome is to foster a highly identifiable brand that appeals to consumers.
When should you consider hiring a brand consultant?
How can you determine whether or not your company could benefit from the services of a brand consultant? Here are a few situations that a brand consultant may help you overcome:
- Your online presence requires a boost. A brand consultant can help you use your website, social media platforms, and other tools to foster a strong online image for your brand. They can also provide a strategy for content creation and SEO.
- You must adapt to change. Marketplaces fluctuate, and these shifts often require companies to pivot. If navigating these changes requires a new online store, an alteration to your branding, or a revamping of your company’s image, a brand consultant may be able to help.
- Your marketing efforts aren’t working. Do your social media platforms suffer from a lack of customer engagement? Are clients unsubscribing from your e-mail campaigns? If your marketing strategies are falling flat, you may wish to have a brand consultant investigate.
- Your sales are static or declining. A brand consultant can explore how your current branding may be hampering your sales performance. By offering a novel perspective of your company’s image and its relevance, you will be better poised to make the necessary changes.
- Your customer feedback is negative. Are customers giving your products fewer stars than usual? Are reviewers’ comments growing increasingly negative? A brand consultant can help to improve your brand’s image, nurture your clients’ trust, and improve your performance on customer satisfaction surveys.
- Your brand fails to attract your target demographic. If your company is failing to reach your intended customers, it may be that your branding doesn’t appeal to them. A brand consultant can help you customize your brand’s identity to target the right audience while equipping your team to perform effective brand management in the future.
- You’ve recently experienced a merger or acquisition. When melding together two company identities, a brand consultant can objectively develop a new branding strategy that communicates the mission of the newly formed entity. A brand consultant can be a key ingredient to successful mergers and acquisitions.
- Your company is having difficulty finding talent. Your company’s image impacts more than sales. It can hamper your efforts to recruit new talent as well. In this way, a brand consultant can be a huge asset for your employer brand and how potential employees perceive it.
How can a brand consultant help your company?
The world of commerce is a noisy place, with consumers being bombarded by a steady stream of messages. Your brand can have just mere seconds to attract a customer. How can a brand consultant help you achieve this goal? Here are some of the ways they can help:
- Provide an objective perspective. Businesses can fall into a rut when it comes to branding. Some may feel very invested in the current company image, making them reluctant to do a revamp. A brand consultant can give you a clear picture of how effective your current branding efforts are. In turn, you can use this unbiased information to make the necessary changes.
- Reduce squandered resources. There is no point in continually investing in a fruitless branding strategy. You are simply wasting money on efforts that yield little to no return. By having a brand consultant introduce more effective branding strategies, you can ensure that your financial resources are put to good use.
- Create a consistent corporate brand. Successful branding strategies incorporate all aspects of your marketing plan to create a consistent image. This ensures that no matter how your clients interact with your organization, they experience the same brand identity.
- Enhance your ability to pivot. The marketplace is in a state of frequent flux. As such, your company’s branding efforts will need to adapt to product changes, shifts in consumer preferences, and the introduction of new competitors. A brand consultant can ensure that your brand image is current and able to withstand these developments.
- Improve your recruiting efforts. Successful branding attracts customers, but it also entices potential new hires. Yes, your brand consultant can improve your employer branding.
What are the benefits of hiring a brand consultant?
You may be tempted to solve your branding problems in-house. Before delegating these duties to your team members, you may wish to explore the advantages of hiring a brand consultant for the job. Here are some of the pros of opting for an outside brand consultant:
- They save time. By opting to use a brand consultant’s services, your team can remain focused on their assigned tasks. Brand consultants are accustomed to their role and do not require training. Furthermore, inexperienced team members may take much longer to conduct these unfamiliar tasks.
- They are experts. When you have a branding issue, it makes sense to seek out someone who specializes in exactly that. These professionals are highly experienced in formulating brand strategies that work in a marketplace filled with shifting trends, increased competition, and ever-changing customer demands.
- They can give you more bang for your buck. Inviting a brand consultant to strategize your branding efforts can ensure that your marketing resources are used to their greatest potential. By having a clearly defined goal, your organization can allocate its funds more effectively.
- They provide a competitive edge. Your company’s image is hugely impacted by the success of your branding efforts. It makes sense to hire the most experienced person for the job. Furthermore, your competition may also be using a brand consultant, making it even more imperative that you follow suit.
- They strive for long-term growth. If you wish to edge out the competition and ensure your company’s long-term growth, it’s wise to invest in the requisite tools — and a carefully developed brand strategy is a requirement. By having a brand consultant operating on your company’s behalf, you can better navigate marketplace fluctuations, increased competition, and other threats to your business’s ongoing success.
What are the disadvantages of hiring a brand consultant?
Nothing is perfect. Hiring a brand consultant has many benefits, but there is a downside, too. Here are some possible problems associated with using a brand consultant:
- They may lack familiarity with your industry. Before your brand consultant can help you establish your company’s brand, they will need to learn about your industry, your company, your competitors, and the marketplace in which you compete. Unless you can secure a brand consultant with experience within your realm, they will need time to conduct this research.
- They communicate remotely. Most brand consultants do not work from your workplace; therefore, you are required to communicate with them via phone, e-mail, or video conferencing. These communication barriers can be challenging and possibly lead to a breakdown in communication.
- They are expensive. Yes, a brand consultant can save your business money, but they don’t come cheaply. As such, the cost may be beyond some company’s reach.
Related: Employer branding ideas that are low-cost, but high-impact
Determining if your company requires the services of a brand consultant is a big decision. Now that you are fully versed on what a brand consultant does, the signs you may need their assistance, and their benefits and limitations, you are better equipped to decide whether your company should acquire one.
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