What is perception? It’s a way of understanding, interpreting or assigning meaning to someone or something.  When we talk about brand perception, we’re talking about the mental impression your audience has of your brand.  How are you presenting your brand in a way that helps them understand it and make it meaningful to them?

Taking a step back from your business to determine what you’d like your brand perception to be is so important because just like everything else that’s part of your brand, it’s centered around the kind of relationship you want to have with your audience. 

Start with this question:

How do you want your ideal audience to perceive your brand?

5 REASONS WHY BRAND PERCEPTION MATTERS

01 – Setting Expectations

When you take the time to figure out how you want to shape your brand perception, you’re taking a proactive approach to building your business.  If you find yourself in reactive mode with your audience more times than you’d like, it’s probably because you haven’t started with strategy.

Creating a plan to help your audience understand your brand helps set expectations for them to know exactly what value you’re delivering.  It also helps you stay in that proactive driver’s seat when your ideal clients know what to expect from you.

02 – Creating An Experience

Brand perception is constantly being formulated and shaped by a client or customer’s experience with you and your business.  Your brand = an experience.

Think about it this way  - when you book a spa day, you expect to show up and have a beautiful, peaceful, relaxing, healing experience full of hushed sounds, trickling water, gorgeous candle scents wafting in the air and fresh lemon cucumber water on tap.  A spa thinks about every single part of your experience from when you step in the front door, to the scents, visuals, air temperature, cozy robe and slippers, décor, and amenities.  Everything about the experience screams nurturing and relaxing.  Even when you open their emails talking about the treatment of the month, that feeling of calm tranquility rushes over you and makes you want to book an appointment.

So, what’s the equivalent for your brand?  How are you welcoming people in?  What do you want them to think & feel and what’s the ultimate experience you want to provide?  It’s this experience – at every single touchpoint that you interact with your customer – that helps them shape a perception of your brand.

03 – A Competitive Edge

Creating an intentional experience for your clients and setting expectations for the ultimate value you provide helps you stand out amongst the competition.

 When you invest in growing a positive brand perception and you’re dialed into exactly what your audience needs from you as a solution, you can show up and deliver in a way that has you stand out as the clear first choice in your industry.  It’s all about connecting with the right clients in the right way with the right experience.

04 – An Engaged Audience

Speaking of connecting with your clients, another reason why shaping your brand perception from a place of strategy and intention matters is that it can help you increase engagement with your audience.

If you can get inside the heads of your ideal clients and understand their needs, struggles, desires and goals, then you know how to serve them better.  When your audience feels seen and heard by you, it increases your positive brand perception.  Then, when you show up and deliver an unforgettable experience with the solutions they’re looking for to achieve their goals, they’ll lock onto you like a missile locks onto its target, and they’ll continue to show up and take advantage of what you have to offer.  

05 – Increased Sales  

All these reasons build on each other, because if you’ve warmed up your audience and they’re feeling excited and fully engaged with you as you’re providing them the answers, help and solutions they most need, then ultimately you will increase your sales!

Positive brand perception builds trust.  Unforgettable experiences build like-know-trust.  Crafting the strategy to create the best experience for your clients (which includes the awesome offers you’ll create to serve them at every level on their journey – I call it your “Suite Of Solutions”), matters.  It matters because it leaves a good impression.  It helps your dream clients have happy thoughts and feelings whenever they think of your brand and what it can do and has done for them.  It turns your best clients into raving fans and brand ambassadors who refer others that need your help to you because of the great experience they’ve had.   

In summary, positive brand perception leads to an engaged audience and customers that convert to more sales.  It’s the sum total of their great experiences with your business.  People buy when they believe in your ability to deliver against their perceived expectations.  This is why brand perception matters, and this is why taking a proactive, strategic approach to figure out how you’d like your customers to think and feel about your brand is vital.

I’ll leave you with the first question I asked you at the beginning since this is where you start:

How do you want your ideal audience to perceive your brand?

If you know you need some extra help to figure out your brand perception, positioning, packaging and promotion…that’s what I help entrepreneurs do all day, everyday!  Check out my Half Day Brand Clarity Intensive to see if working with me 1:1 is right for you.