How to Build a Strong and Memorable Brand
It’s a fact of business that a loved, strong and recognizable brand is one of the most valuable assets that a company can own. According to surveys, almost 60% of consumers prefer buying new products from brands that they are familiar with. And as a small, new business, you may have found yourself competing against big brands, who come with a devoted customer base and an unlimited marketing budget. Because of this, it’s important that you are able to come up with new ways to differentiate yourself with a solid brand-building process of your own.
Building a brand is much more than having a cool logo, stand-out brand colors, or a well-placed ad; you need to do more to compete with the big guys and entice customers to your brand instead. So, let’s get started.
What is a Brand?
What is a brand? Simply put, your brand is defined by the customers’ overall perception and view of your business. A solid, successful brand needs to be consistent when it comes to both communication with and experience for customers, in many different applications including the environment, such as a storefront, office or website, printed materials, packaging or signage that they use, their online advertising, sales and customer service and content publishing. According to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, your brand is what people say about your business when you’re not in the room. In a nutshell – your brand is your reputation!
Your Business Structure and Your Brand
The structure of your business will undoubtedly have an effect on the kind of branding that you use. For example, if you’re a sole trader serving the local area, you’ll probably want your brand to reflect this with family-friendly elements. On the other hand, if you’re marketing to other businesses and setting up your company as an LLC, you’ll want a more polished, professional brand image to foster trust. So, choose the structure of your business before you get into branding – decide whether you’re going to be setting up a sole proprietor, partnership, or Limited Liability Company. If you’re not sure how to set up an LLC, you can learn how to do this here. The handy blog from Truic helps you answer the question ‘what is an LLC’ and whether you should form one.
What is Brand Building?
Once you’ve decided on your business structure and determined the type of brand that you will need, it’s time to learn more about brand building. The definition of building a brand is to generate awareness of your business, using a range of different marketing strategies and campaigns. Your ultimate goal should be to create a unique, lasting image in the industry and marketplace. The amplification of your brand image can be done effectively these days using a wide variety of digital marketing experiences, such as the user experience on your website, SEO and content marketing, social media marketing, paid advertising and email marketing. As a collective, all of these channels are crucial to gaining brand growth and awareness in the modern digital world.
Steps for Building a Brand:
Determine Your Target Audience
To lay a strong foundation for building your brand, you’ll need to first determine the target audience that you will be focusing on. You need to keep in mind exactly who you are trying to reach – then you can tailor your brand mission and message to meet their exact needs. Getting specific is the key to success here; you will need to figure out detailed behaviors and lifestyle habits of your consumers.
Establish a Brand Mission Statement
You will need to think about your brand mission and craft a clear image of what your company is the most passionate about. In essence, this is the reason for your brand; the ‘why’. Before you are able to build a brand that your audience will trust, you will need to be sure on the value that your business provides. Your mission statement will basically define your brand’s purpose for existing; it will inform all the other aspects of your brand building strategies. Everything from your logo to your tagline, brand voice, message, and brand personality needs to reflect the mission statement.
Research Your Competitors
While it’s never a good idea to exactly imitate what the big brands in your industry are doing, it’s always important that you are aware of what they are doing well, and where they’ve failed. The goal here is to understand what your competition are doing so that you can differentiate your brand for them. Understanding what other brands in your industry niche are doing means that you’re in a better position to make yours stand out from the crowd and convince customers to purchase from you over the other options.
Come Up With The Key Benefits Your Brand Offers
There are always going to be brands in your niche with bigger budgets and more resources to command their niche, but bear in mind that the products, services and benefits you provide belong solely to your brand. Starting a memorable brand means that you need to dig deep in order to figure out exactly what you offer that nobody else is offering. Focus on the benefits and qualities that make your company’s branding unique. If you know who your target audience is, use this step to give them a reason to choose your brand over a competitor.
Create Brand Visuals
Visuals are likely the factor that comes to mind first when you think about building a brand, but it’s important to come up with everything else first so that you have visuals that are in line with your brand mission and are providing your target audience with what they are looking for. This is certainly one of the most exciting parts of the brand building process, and your logo and colors are going to appear on everything that relates to your business, becoming a key part of your identity and the visual recognition of your brand. You might want to hire a professional designer or brand agency to make your brand stand out.
There’s more to building a strong brand than coming up with an eye-catching logo!
