Branding is the process of giving a meaning to your moving company’s products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds. It is a strategy to help people to quickly identify your organization, and give them a reason to choose you over your competition by clarifying what this particular brand is and is not.

You can consider a brand as the idea or image people have in mind when thinking about your moving company. It is therefore not just the physical features that create a brand but also the feelings that consumers develop towards your company. This combination of physical and emotional cues is triggered when exposed to the name, the logo, the visual identity, or even the message communicated.

Jim Callan from Callan Moving shares his thoughts here:

“I have always advocated that your brand should say what you do. For example, my company has the word “moving” or some form of that in all advertising and our name. Unless you are as recognized as somebody like MasterCard, you cannot just put one word on your trucks, and expect the public to know what you do. For example, Allied, United, Atlas, and even Mayflower have many generic meanings. I have been hammering the people at Allied Van Lines, that very few people think movers when they see the word Allied. It’s only the corporate staff and most agents that are in love with the name. My Dad coined the expression listed under my name below. “Moving Needn’t Be A Headache”. It says what we do and we will take care of this stressful experience.”

In this article, we’re going to go over a few branding tips and the areas in which you can distribute your brand image.

1. Have “Moving” or “Movers” In Your Brand Name

Although most movers have this, some do not. Having this term in your company name immediately tells your audience what you do. Failing to do this can cause consumers to look the other way and not connect the dots when they see your company name.

2. Have a Slogan

A slogan is one of the best ways to immediately connect with a consumer and get them to know exactly what you do. Slogan’s tell your audience what you do and the problems you solve, all in one phrase or sentence.

3. Have Consistent Brand Colors

The colors of your brand are an important part of your branding. The colors of your brand should be consistent on your website, moving trucks, uniforms, and other marketing materials.

4. Have A Branded Email Address

If you’re still using an @gmail.com email, consider switching over to a branded email account. Having a branded email account vs. an @gmail or @yahoo etc. shows your consumers that you’re an established moving company.

If your moving company is new, consider switching over to G Suite before you begin to establish your Gmail account. The more established your gmail email address is, the harder it will be to switch over.

A G Suite account is similar to having a Gmail account, only it’s one step above. With G Suite you can connect it with your website’s domain and manage your team’s branded email accounts.

G Suite does cost money, it’s about $6 per month per branded email account. Aside from that and the business dashboard, most everything else is the same. You’ll be using the Gmail platform and the rest of Google’s services to use your branded email address. Here’s some information on how to set up G Suite.

5. Update Your Email Signature Line

Your signature line plays a big role in how you appear professionally when you connect with your prospects or customers via email. It also gives your contacts the ability to find your phone number and website quickly by looking in your email conversations.

Your email signature line can be changed in minutes. If you have Gmail simply go into Settings > General and scroll toward the bottom to set it up.

Here are some things you may want to put in your signature line:

• Your Name
• Your Position With The Company
• The Moving Company’s Name
• Slogan
• Phone Number
• Website Address w/link
• Logo or Headshot

6. Answer The Phone With Your Official Brand Name

It’s important when answering the phone to answer the phone with the full official name of your moving company.

This is important for moving companies who have generic names like ABC Relocation Services to answer the phone with your full name. If you just answer the phone “ABC Movers” or “ABC Relocation” you’re not differentiating yourself from similarly named competitors and the prospect on the phone might not know exactly which moving company you are.

7. Brand Your Moving Trucks

Your moving trucks are essentially the face of your moving company. They instantly tell consumers who you are and what you do.

Branding your moving trucks is no easy task, and not cheap either. But, if you have the money to invest, then do it.

Branding your moving trucks is one of the most important aspects of branding your moving company. Not only will it be visible to the folks in the neighborhood, when you have branded moving trucks, but you can also take pictures and videos of them and spread them throughout all areas of your marketing.

8. Keep Your Trucks Clean

What the outside of your trucks looks like to your community speaks a lot to what they think about your company. Always having clean trucks tells your community that you are a clean operation and that your services inside their home will be clean as well.

9. Have A Clean Branded Website

This one really goes without saying. Your website is essentially where your brand exists. Everything on your website should speak your brand. Make sure your website is nicely branded with the correct use of your colors and everything looks clean and organized. Here are 6 web design tips for your moving company’s website.

10. Update Your Business Cards

Your business cards should have your moving company name, logo, and contact details.

If you’ve recently changed your logo or brand image make sure you update your business cards. Business cards are very inexpensive – Check out Gotprint.com, Vistaprint.com or consider supporting your local printer to build goodwill with your community.

Additionally, here are a few tips for designing your business cards.

11. Update Your Mailers

Your mailers are another very important item to touch up when branding or re-branding your moving company. Your mailer is often the first thing your mailer prospects see when considering a moving company for their move.

If you haven’t set up a system to mail out to listings of home’s for sale in your area, check out USA Home Listings or Just Listed Mailers. These are some great options for getting the data of people in your neighborhood who’ve just listed their homes for sale.

Also, here’s a great article from Gregory Sheppard from USA Home Listings on what should go on your moving company’s postcard.

12. Update Your Social Media Accounts

A consistent brand image across your social media accounts is very important. Believe it or not, your prospects do check out your social accounts when deciding on using your moving company. Many people will check out your Facebook to see your moving crews and decide if they want to hire you.

13. Keep Flyers & Handouts Consistent With Your Brand

When you’re handing out marketing materials such as flyers or other kind of handouts, be sure to brand those documents with your latest logo and information, and keep the image and colors consistent. That way, when people visit your website after viewing your flyer, they’ll connect the dots and have a consistent experience with your brand.

14. Crews & Salespeople In Uniform When On The Job

The uniforms your crews wear should definitely be branded for your company with your logo, phone number, colors, and website. Consider using solid colors, never white or light grey because when movers sweat or get dirty from the job you don’t want the shirts to easily get dirty.

Additionally, if there’s a community event such as a concert or festival in the park or something similar, have a few of your crew members attend in uniform to get out in front of your community. This is also a good way to reward some of your crew members for doing a great job, by giving them the day off with free event tickets or food money for repping your brand.

15. Keep Your Email Newsletter On Brand

Your email newsletter is another form of advertising where you want the brand to stay consistent. When you’re looking to keep in touch with your previous customers, you want them to remember everything in a consistent manner.

Additionally, here are some email marketing tips for movers from our team at Moversville.

16. Retargeting Ads

You definitely want your retargeting ads to have consistent branding with your website and the rest of your places. After someone visits your website and leaves, you want that same brand image back in their face so they can start to remember you more and more.

17. Google My Business Listing

Your Google My Business Listing is your local listing in Google that tells Google where your business is located. This is important because this is where people see your moving company in the local results in Google.

18. Yelp Account

Your Yelp account is another top priority to stay consistent with your brand. Most people before using your moving services will google your name and look at your reputation on Yelp. Make sure your Yelp account has your correct logo and many images of your moving trucks and crews in action.

19. Logo Icon On Email Account

This is the little circle icon that shows up on your emails that show who you are. It’s important to add your logo here so people can recognize who’s emailing them and that your company is established and thorough with their brand.

20. Website’s Favicon

Your website’s favicon is the little icon that shows up on the tab in your browser when your website is open. If you open your website and don’t see your logo where your tab in your browser is, ask your web developer to add one in there. It shouldn’t be difficult for them.

21. Paperwork

Your paperwork and moving quote is another place you should be consistent with your brand. Whether your paperwork is actually paper or you’re using a moving software, make sure your paperwork or e-paperwork is consistent with your brand image.

Your brand is a very important part of getting business in the moving industry. Since people in your community won’t need movers until they’re ready for you, it’s important to stay in the eyes of your community at all times with a consistent brand.