There are so many advantages to building a brand that your customers recognise and trust. Without a successful brand, there’s no way your business will be able to stand out from the crowd and beat your competitors. A strong brand will help you to develop a strong customer base and even keep the best employees on your team.
If you’re in the midst of developing a brand but you’re at a loss as to how to set it apart from other competing brands, you’ve come to the right place. Take a look at these fifteen steps every successful brand owner has had to take.
What is a Brand?
Many first time business owners would be forgiven for thinking that a brand is just an image; it’s a logo used on products and packaging. While part of your brand is about image, it’s about so much more than that too. Your business brand is the business identity.
It’s all about what you stand for and what you want to be known for. Your brand is one big mixture of your values, vision, and voice. Before you start developing your brand, it’s vital that you consider what you want to say about your business. If you have been running your business for a while, you can build your business history into your brand.
Get To Know Your Audience
If you’re just starting out in business and you haven’t spent time getting to know your target audience, now is the time to get started. Just like no individual is the same, you may find many differences in your target audience. However, you’ll also be able to spot similarities.
Use these similarities to build a customer profile that you can work with to create your brand. What represents your business and what your customers are looking for? In the same way you get to know your target audience, you should also get to know your competitors.
Look at the type of branding they use and what does and doesn’t work for them. What do customers respond well to? You can take the recipe for making a successful brand from elements of how your competitors have succeeded.
Digital Marketing
Using digital marketing is an excellent way to advertise your products and learn about your target market at the same time. It gives you an ideal way to measure the reactions and levels of engagement from your customers. One of the best ways to do this is through proactive and reactive PR.
Proactive PR actively seeks out exposure to your brand while reactive PR acts on opportunity and follows the lead of the customer. When you learn to use digital marketing to the advantage of your brand, your customers won’t be able to forget it.
Brand Personality
Now you’ve got the information you need about your target audience and competitors, you need to start developing your brand personality. There are many things that can help you to create a brand personality that your customers will love. Firstly, think about your unique selling point.
What makes you different from your competitors? Why should people choose your business over your competitors? Secondly, think of words or phrases that you want customers to connect with your business. For instance, reliable, trustworthy, hassle-free, high quality.
Your Brand Name
Your brand name should say everything about your business simply. It should stand out from the crowd without steering away from your industry. You may have a few names in mind already so begin by looking at your competitors and figuring out the names that will set you apart.
The name you choose should also be web friendly so your customers can easily find you with a quick online search. If they’re not able to find you quickly, you can be sure they’ll find your competitors instead. Opt for a name that’s bold, memorable, and makes sense for what you’re trying to achieve.
A Matching Slogan
It’s okay if you think your brand name doesn’t say everything you want it to say. This is where a slogan can come in handy. It’s a great way of adding a little extra information for your customers to show them the type of business you are.
Think about Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ or L’Oreal’s ‘Because You’re Worth It’. They are classic examples of slogans that took time to catch on but are now an integral part of two major brands. If your slogan catches on quickly, it could help to put your brand on a platform for all interested customers to see.
Visuals
It’s no coincidence that many people connect brands with visuals. Getting your visuals right is a huge part of branding. It’s not just about creating a logo that makes your company look good so when it comes to visuals, there’s a lot to think about.
For instance, the colours and fonts you want to use across your website, platforms, and marketing material is paramount. Everything you use has to complement one another. Any photography or videography you use should also have strong links to the design of your brand so your customers don’t have to think about what they’re seeing.
Designing Your Logo
Your logo will be used right across your business. From your website to packaging, bricks and mortar stores to social media, and more. Designing your logo can be one of the most intricate and difficult parts of getting your brand right.
It will need to be simple but eye-catching. It should be easy to understand and authoritative. It may take some time to come up with a logo that you’re happy with and can stand the test of time. If you don’t feel qualified to design a logo for your business, it can help to enlist a professional.
Multiple Design Formats
Your brand design needs to be somewhat adaptable. Not every design will work well for every marketing avenue. For instance, you may need to change the format of your design for Instagram because your initial design doesn’t work as well.
It’s important to remember that it’s okay to make small changes here and there, where they are needed. As long as you’re not completely changing the design, your customers will be able to easily identify your products and services on each platform. It can help to document the changes you make so you know what works for each platform and can move forward in the future accordingly.
Hire Outside Help
Creating a brand you can be proud of takes time, effort, and patience. There may be many elements of your brand that you need advice on or don’t have the skills to complete. From designing your logo to writing catchy slogans and everything in between, there’s someone you can hire who has done it a thousand times before.
Look for experienced writers, digital marketing agencies, and branding companies that can help you with each step of your plan. Look at it as an investment in your business that will pay off again and again.
Research Successful Brands
Before you press the ‘go’ button on your brand, spend some time researching famous successful brands. You may be surprised to find out that many successful brands didn’t start out that way. It takes time for brands to become well known and well trusted.
Researching brands is the best way to prepare yourself for the time scale of how branding becomes successful. Take a look at LinkedIn for employer branding examples. It can also give you tips on how to allow your brand to evolve with your audience and the latest trends.
Make Sure Your Team Are In On It
Once the finer details of your brand are finished, it’s time to get your team together. Your team is the driving force behind your brand so it’s important they can get on board. You should have a team full of people who are able to see your vision and willing to work towards it.
Understanding your brand will be key to achieving your business goals. If your team understands and values your brand, they’ll be able to convey that to your customers. Work with your team for as long as necessary to get them up to speed with your brand or any changes you plan to make.
Brand Ambassador
A brand ambassador is someone who represents your brand and recommends it to your audience. More often than not, a brand ambassador is a celebrity or influencer who can reach your target market. Consumers trust brand ambassadors and they stop to listen to someone they admire.
If you don’t want to go down the celebrity route, think about using someone from your own company as the brand ambassador- it could even be you. Creating some simple videos showing the products and brand in action is enough to gain the traction that you need.
Building a brand is never easy but it’s an essential part of building a successful business. By following these steps, you’ll end up with a brand that attracts the right people and you can be proud of. Take a look at some of our other articles while you’re here.
Feature image by Eva Bronzini on Pexels
