Many times brand custodians are concerned about pushing their products to the target market. Many assume that just creating a service is the end of it and people will rush in to purchase their services. This assumption is often based on the fact that the new service is a one- in- town bullet proofed idea. Times are changing and we need to think otherwise .I strongly agree with Steve Heimoff’s assertion in this regard which says ‘’No longer is it enough to make and sell and then expect the world to beat a path to your door. Today seller has to reach out to their customers, understand their customers’ need (italics mine) and may have to do so in a way that is unfamiliar and even uncomfortable for them’’ Going the old way does not work any longer. The audience also have a concern.  Sellers, producers must note that many want some services badly but they do not have what it takes in term of financial capacity to get them. Customers are faced with choices. They have to make choices through opportunity cost- which is alternative wants forgone.

Despite these challenges, I must confess that brands can still get necessary attention from their segment if they truly understand the most viable reasons that determine why audience will invest in the brands. Today I just want to examine four basic reasons why audience still invest in brands despite the tight economic structure that pervades our economy now.

People buy to satisfy basic need: Never forget Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When the basic needs of your segment is not know, your brand may not enjoy patronage from them. People have several needs with limited resources to go round. Your brands must aim first at satisfying their basic needs before you move ahead to give what is on their secondary list of needs. So first identify what they need and you can have them ‘grabbing’ your services

Solve a problem: in addition to the above, each market segment has problems that are peculiar to them. The more your brand can solve your segment’s problem in a unique way the better for the brand. Offer services that solve problems in a unique, emotional way that will propel your audience to talk about your brand. This also point to a sure way to get necessary attention from brand’s target.

Status: When the above issues are satisfied, brand audience will invest in a brand based on status’s need. I must admit there are few exceptions to this rule, but what is certain is that majority of brand’s segment will always follow this trend.

Quality and longevity of service/ created product: Why we always believe that emotional connection, perception influences target decision in a major way. A recent research packaged in an EBook form produced by Intrepid and MR. Youth supported the assertion that some clients also consider quality and longevity of the created services/ product before they buy.

 In this mentioned report, a young twenty one year old lady (Brittney) from Seattle has this to say ‘’When I purchase something, I want to know that it’s going to last for a while. I don’t know, maybe it’s just the nostalgia of getting things handed down to me from my parents and grandparents and the history they had but it makes me sad to think that our generation’s purchases won’t go through the same ordeal – everything’s ‘insta-use’ and once it’s used it’s gone.”

Let me conclude this piece by saying that getting value from your brand target is equal to your brand’s ability to know the reason why your target does business with you or not.

This will be the last part of the two previous posts. Google and other search engines have turned many into product, service researchers while at the confine of their rooms or offices. Today’s customers are no longer satisfied with information provided by brand advertisers or traditional media. They really want to see things as it. They want to drag hard bargain for their valued incomes. They also need personal conviction which shows that what they are buying is the best. It has been proven that at least two million potentials log on to the net everyday. Most of these potentials may be looking for things that either concerns your personal brand, product or services you are offering, institutional or corporate brand you represent. As a brand, you or your corporate brand has a chance of making these teaming ‘searchers’ to take a look at your side. That is if you have a web presence or Google resume. To get a chance of being seen, ensure your key words help in Search Engine optimizations. This will help your visibility in the first page of Google search. Many searchers do not have the patience of going beyond the third page of the search result.

Let us assume that your brand is lucky to be found, ability to create first impression with your web presence become the second most vital point. First impression begins with design aesthetic, quality of homepage content.

Your web presence first impression can help. As we know attention is a great deal on the net. Researchers have no time to waste on a non appealing site and at the click of the mouse they may be gone forever. That may be a lifetime opportunity too.

To get a chance with any first timer to your site/blog/content channel, be sure that the homepage is filled with useful content. If it is corporate website, let it incorporate integrated platforms that offer valuable information. Such information must aim to establish relationship instead of selling. For personal sites, it will be good to make your helpful contents the homepage, It may not be wise to make ‘how good I am info’ your homepage,

For other social networking sites like facebook, twitter, Xing, plaxo etc, make sure the content section popularly referred as ‘what is on your mind, what are you doing’ be loaded with helpful guide, insight that will help your target audience instead of ‘I am eating cheese’ stuff. That may be good occasionally but it should not be habitual practice. The reason is that such details may not lead to higher engagement and conversion rate. To enhance conversion rate, be willing to spread your highly usable content to several platforms online. This makes it easier to be found in different channels.

Let me conclude this piece by restating the process of identifying online potentials and how they can be converted to customers, loyalists or followers. Most start their online journeys as searchers or browsers; they are turned into believers in your brand through relevance of your brand. If you open a conversation, give free content that will help them, then you are on your way up. This will eventually make them to make decisions to buy from you, follow you. From here the journey to winning them as brand loyalists, advocates begin.

Brand equity is the sustained value that customers placed on your brand over others. Brand equity is built through a consistent and sustained delivery of promise. This suggests that brand equity is built over time. Equity is not built in a day. Merely understanding the equity markets is enough should tell an individual something vital about equity building.Brand equity is value is viewed in terms of trust, dependability, security and more importantly perception.

When a brand has gained equity, it guarantees the fact that less amount of money will be spent on marketing activities without much concern for what the implications will be. When brand equity is built, efforts need to put in place to ensure it sustainability. Like every structure, it takes time to build something but within hours, days, a permanent damage can be made that can make the structure goes under. If in doubt, think about the experience of September 11, in the United States.

Having established that, let us look at what may contribute to the brand equity’s debit.

1. Poor customer service: many brands often forget what bring them to the top. Because they now have more customers, they treat their old customers as nobody. May be because they feel they can no longer pay their bills. Watch against this and remain focused.

2. Unrelaible product/service quality: many brands start to cut corners to make more profit. This will erode brand equity. I was discussing with one of the third generation banks’ official about the quality of the service we now have at a particularly branch in Lagos which was far away from what it used to be before and the response I got was shocking. He said ‘the crowd has become too much and because of that the staff has no option but to shout on their customers’. I smiled and concluded a time is coming and that will be soon when such answer will not be tenable.

3. Changes that reduce perceived values: Some brands just make some internal changes that are not called for just to show off. When such changes are made particularly those that affect point of contact with the brand, the brand image suffers immediately. That is why people who hold the baton in every brand must be keen observers so they can have accurate assessment of the changes that need to be made.

Every enterprise that is profitable has kits. Without the kits the enterprise often fails. Personal branding has its own kits. They are highly necessary to enhance personal branding rating. Because we want the best for our community, we will not hoard any information that will make them stand out. This informs this write-up. So always ensure these kits are with you.

 1. Writing skill/kit: Today, writing has become one of the prominent ways to showcase the talents we have got. We are all on many social media. Everyday we are required to respond to one communication or the other. We are writing reports, minutes, sending emails, text messages, articles etc. Through these platforms, our personal brands are judged. Therefore all must ensure that our  writing skills are sharpened daily. Nobody is given the gift of writing at the day of his/her birth. All have to develop it. One way to do this is to read a lot and pay keen attention to writings of others. Also start to write until you can perfect the art. Take classes if need be.

2. Oratory skill/public speaking kit: Personal brands rating are enhanced with this kit. Individual must develop strong ability to communicate well in the public. In developing, crafting of elevator speech, we must ensure that we have practice the speech well so that we do not find ourselves stammering when inside a crowded hall.

Come to think of it, one of the tools that helped Barrack Obama brand in his campaign for presidency is his ability to clearly marshal his thought before the teaming populace.

3. Technical kit: This is the third and vital kit in personal branding. Every individual must armed himself with the use of relevant kits in his niche. This begins with ability to use the computer. I still see many today who can not operate a computer in this 21^st century. There is an increasing demand on everyone to update his knowledge in this area. Master the use of relevant software in your niche. This gives you a higher competitive advantage.

N.B we acknowledged fotosearch for use of their royalty free photos in our site.