Branding can make or break your business. Building a successful brand is certainly no cakewalk. If you want your brand to be successful, you’ll have to continue to evolve with the times. What your customers want today may not be what they want three years down the line.

Take Nike for example. They opened their doors for business back in 1964. Footwear needs were certainly much different back then than it is today. Yet, they were able to adapt and evolve with the times, taking each decade and the changing needs of their customers head-on. Now look at them today — one of the largest shoe companies in the world with a powerful brand.

Learn from Nike. Build a brand that not only communicates the core message of your business but also continues to evolve as time goes on. With that being said, let’s delve into three secrets that will allow your brand to thrive.

1) Stay in constant communication with your customers

If you want your brand to stay relevant, you need to do a bit of digging to discover their preferred communication channel. Whether that means incorporating email marketing into your marketing strategy, YouTube ads, Facebook marketing, Instagram stories, etc. Find out where your customers are and reach out to them to broadcast your brand.

Furthermore, it’s absolutely essential that your brand is mobile friendly. That means all of your marketing endeavors have to be just as easily accessed on mobile devices as it is on desktop computers. Otherwise, your brand won’t grow nearly as fast it would otherwise.

2) Be authentic

You’re talking the talk but are you walking the walk? If you want to communicate successfully, it’s essential that you come across as authentic. That means every aspect of your business, from your intentions to your company culture, must match your brand. Your customers have an expectation, and that expectation must be met if you intend on keeping your customers for the long term.

This applies to your personal contacts, ads and all social media pages. The worst thing that could happen is that your brand communicates one message (“health and wellness”), but your personal social media pages communicates another (pictures of you and your team helping yourselves to Big Macs at McDonald’s). Remember to walk the walk, or your customers will simply leave you for one of your competitors.

3) Watch your competitors and counter them

Watching your competitors and looking for weaknesses is a great way for you to jump into the market with a different value proposition. Analyze your competitors by going to their social media pages, physically visiting their stores, surfing their website, or reading the local newspaper. Offering something that your competitor lacks will allow you to not only build up your own customer base, but also steal away many of their customers for you own.

Conclusion

This list is by no means all-inclusive. There are many more branding secrets that will certainly pay if employed properly. I recommend you utilize these secrets to make your brand a success. As long as you’re willing to evolve with the times and remain in constant communication with the needs and wants of your customers your brand will be around for a long time to come.