The Power of First Impressions
“You only get one chance to make a first impression” - this adage has never been more critical.
In today’s world of constant and conflicting information streams, businesses only get one chance to shape perceptions. The moment someone engages with your content, your organization's appearance and message are instantly imprinted in their mind. The information gathered in this initial encounter is the basis of perceptions and decision making.
For small businesses striving to build awareness, reach the right audience and stand apart from competitors, this “first moment of truth” is crucial to success. However, the investment of marketing resources required to cut through the noise can often be expensive and time-consuming, especially when weighed against other pressing priorities.
HOW CAN YOU ENHANCE BRAND BUILDING EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY?
AI-Powered Brand Building
While the fundamentals of building a brand remain essential for attracting and retaining customers, AI can help you amplify these key elements:
Know Your Audience – Understand their needs, desires, pain points and motivations
Clarify Your Point of Difference – Identify how your organization uniquely solves your audience’s problems
Tell a Relevant Story – Speak your audience’s language and clearly articulate what’s in it for them
Develop Signature Assets – Make it easy for people to immediately and intuitively identify your brand
Commit to Consistency – Grow your share of mind. Remember, branding is compounding – one satisfied customer can generate a lifetime of purchases and attract multiple new customers.
Here are a few use cases we, and fellow brand building experts, recommend incorporating into your workflow.
Category & Customer Research
Wondering what trends will impact your industry in the coming year? Considering expanding into a new category and want to know current perceptions and preferred brands? Seeking insight on who your potential customer could be?
From assisted search in Google and Bing to direct prompts in ChatGPT and Claude, AI agents serve as your secondary research resource, compiling and summarizing information to help your business stay up to date in evolving markets. While learning from customers first-hand is still the gold standard for creating a robust persona that captures their unique characteristics, leveraging AI to develop hypotheses to test and learn offers cost efficiencies.
Sales Pitch Preparation
When it comes to preparing for pitches, AI can assist in several ways from identifying white space opportunities vs. competitors to anticipating potential probes from prospects. Are there specific criteria you need to meet to win a contract? Conduct a comparison between your company and challengers to pinpoint where you have a clear advantage and where additional support may be needed.
Want to be ready to neutralize any concerns? Create a role play scenario where your AI agent interprets how a prospect may react and engage with your company based on their digital presence and messaging strategy.
Most importantly, ensure your pitch story is customer-first. If your opening doesn’t get your audience emotionally invested, then what and how you do something, the features and capabilities you offer, won’t make a difference. Vet your content to ensure these three elements are evident:
Problem – Clearly articulate what’s at stake and the challenges to overcome
Target Audience – Precisely define who benefits from your offer
Solution – Highlight your unique point of difference that creates a demonstrably better future
Always remember to keep confidential information confidential of course.
Content Creation
In addition to uncovering insights on your competitors, it’s important to understand how AI views your brand to help guide how and what you communicate. Try this exercise – type into Google ”What does (insert your company name) do?” then type in “What does the company (your brand name) do?”
Did you find that the first search resulted in more category-oriented information? This is a common result especially if industry terms or common words are reflected in a business’ name. If this is how your audience is searching, consider how their purchase decisions are impacted by generative AI responses. Per a Salesforce survey conducted in 2023 in the US, U.K., Australia and India, “70% of Gen Z report using the technology and 52% of them trust the technology to help them make informed decisions.”
BrandRank.AI has led the charge at what they call the “Prompted Moment of Truth” by helping brands navigate this new universe by combining AI with expert insight. Per CEO and founder Pete Blackshaw – “We are entering an 'Answer Economy' — powered by generative AI — that’s revolutionizing how consumers discover, explore, and purchase products and services. Brands can’t afford not to know their standing in the answer box: Are they present, doubted, distorted, lacking substance or conspicuously absent? Trust starts here.” (source: https://www.brandrank.ai/news)
Early testing has shown AI’s impact on organic search results in lower rankings, CTR and traffic overall. To win at Google’s Search Generative Experience, content will need to answer your customers’ questions uniquely and specifically. Maintaining consistent messaging across platforms is still critical as well given that AI algorithms source from a variety of content formats.
Using AI agents like ChatGPT, Claude.AI and Munch are very helpful for creating and editing content, but marketers must be vigilant to ensure what they produce is on-brand and meaningfully valuable to their target audience.
Brand Asset Creation
Design tools like Adobe and Canva are rapidly incorporating AI to streamline creative production. The upside is the ability to quickly develop graphics and reproduce them for various sizes, languages, and formats. The critical watch out, however, is ensuring that all visual content remains deeply connected to your brand identity and messaging.
Consider the example of Dove, a brand that has built its equity around Real Beauty and challenging false narratives. They've once again taken a bold stance on beauty in the AI era with their campaign "The Code" and accompanying AI playbook, which defines their standards of representation.
As we navigate the exciting frontier of AI-powered brand building, it's crucial to remember that technology is a tool, not a replacement for authentic human connection. By leveraging AI to amplify your brand's unique voice, streamline your processes, and gain deeper insights into your audience, you can create a more compelling and resonant brand presence.
However, the heart of your brand - its values, mission, and the genuine relationships you build with customers - must remain steadfastly human. Embrace AI as a powerful ally in your brand-building journey, but always let your authenticity shine through. In doing so, you'll not only make an unforgettable first impression but also foster lasting connections that drive long-term business success.
The Brand Evaluator is a joint venture of independent brand builders – Michelle Thompson, BrandSpark Design LLC and Christine Sech, Brave Oak Brand Building LLC. We work with small businesses to help them clearly and meaningfully convey their organization’s value through brand building strategy, design and content that drives results.
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