What First Impression Does Your Brand Make?

“Brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” -Jeff Bezos (Amazon)

It’s true: your brand is not just your voice or your visual style. It’s also what you do, and how you do it. And believe it or not, your brand leaves a first impression.

Your Brand is Your Interview

The first interview at a new company is the only time, as a new (prospective) employee, that you get to make a first impression. But more importantly, it’s the only time the company has an opportunity to make a first impression on you.

As a freelancer, I’ve had many “first impression” experiences, and they’ve nearly always served as precursors to my experience with the company itself.

• The company that consistently called 2-3 days later than they said they would was just as thoughtless when employees were sick or needed to schedule a meeting around a doctor’s appointment.
• The company that was ready to start my interview 5 minutes early (leaving me without the extra time I’d been banking on to get a quiet moment!) was shockingly punctual, but also cared more about timeliness than preparedness.
• The team that made a point of asking thoughtful questions and discussing UX design in general during the interview kicked off my first day with productive, interesting meetings that both brought me up to speed on projects and made use of the time by giving the other team members a new set of eyes (mine) to run ideas by.

Your Brand Leaves a First Impression

When someone sees your website, your social media, or the content you provide, you’re creating a first impression. Those are your brand – they impact what people will say about you. Your brand leaves a first impression on your potential consumers.

Make your brand a good one! Don’t just update your visuals and your content. Make a plan and a strategy, so that your first impression will be a great one.