Today, 59 percent of consumers prefer to buy products from familiar brands. This demonstrates the importance of brand building if you're hoping to scale your business.
Building a brand may sound simple, but it can be difficult to know which activities you should be focusing on. A well-established brand will help you differentiate your business from your competitors. It will also help you grow your company while building global recognition, customer loyalty, credibility, and trust.
If you know you need to grow your brand, but you're not sure where to get started, this is for you. Read on to learn everything you need to know about creating a brand for your business.
Why Build a Brand?
[quotesright]Your brand embodies the core of your company and what your values are. [/quotesright] It's the messaging in your advertising, your logo, your tagline, your signage, your customer service, and more.
A strong brand helps you build credibility, motivate employees, and acquire customers. Consumers (particularly millennials) are loyal to brands that they feel share their beliefs. When you create your brand messaging, you'll need to communicate those values to help form an emotional connection with your business's target market.
When employees work for a business with a positive, well-regarded reputation, and they feel strongly about its values and mission, they'll have higher job satisfaction. It's easy to see when employees take pride in what they do, and when they're just counting the minutes to their lunch break.
Top Brand Building Tips for Business Owners
Are you just getting started with branding? Or maybe you've created a brand and let it languish? Either way, these tips will help you create a solid, recognizable brand that will represent your business.
Understand Branding
Your brand is the way people perceive your business. It's also the way your business makes them feel when they see your emails or read a tweet. The strength of your brand can be measured by the strength of its reputation and how visible it is. [quotesright] Keep in mind that your brand is really about the emotional connection you form with consumers. [/quotesright]
The next step is to communicate this importance to all of your team members. It's much easier to grow your brand when all of your employees are on the same page.
Know Your Target Market
Your branding message will be tailored to meet the exact needs of your target market. That's why you need to get super specific about who this target market is.
To do this, do some research into your current customers (or the people you'd like to be customers). You'll need to know their:
- Gender
- Age
- Location
- Education
- Income
- Occupation
- And more
The goal is to get a good idea of what makes your target market tick. Consider creating a buyer persona, which you can base on insights from your customer base (interviews, surveys etc) and market research. [quotesright]Your goal should be to know what your target market is looking for, the problems keeping them up at night, and why your products would meet their needs. [/quotesright]
Know Your Brand Positioning
[quotes]When you're creating your brand, you'll need to know what sets your business apart from your competitors.[/quotes] This is why it's crucial that you're aware of what your competitors are offering and how they're marketing their products.
You'll need to be specific about the value your business is providing for customers and why they won't be able to find that value elsewhere.
Create a positioning statement. This is typically less than five sentences long and will capture your brand positioning. While it should be a little aspirational so you have goals to work toward, it should also be grounded in reality.
Define Your Values
Your target customers are humans, and humans are full of emotions. When you position your brand as supporting those emotions, you can strengthen the image of your brand.
[quotesright]Consumers can spot inauthenticity a mile away. [/quotesright] But if you get behind a social issue you're actually passionate about, you can reap the benefits.
Consider Ben & Jerry's which released "I Dough, I Dough" in honor of the same-sex marriage ruling. The LGBT community has a spending power of approximately $800 billion annually and is incredibly loyal to brands supporting the cause.
Whichever values you stand behind, go "all-in." This will help create a solid brand that customers will recognize.
Create a Tagline, Logo, and Story
Your company's icons should be easy to remember with a glance. Consider Nike's logo, the "swoosh." The check mark is fluid, symbolizing speed and movement.
You'll also need to create a short tagline that will carry a strategic message while stating your product benefits. [quotesright]Walmart is a great example of a tagline with "Save Money. Live Better". [/quotesright]
Along with your tagline and logo, you'll need to build a relevant, authentic story. Include the reason your company exists, your goal, the value you're aiming to create, and how users’ lives are impacted after they use your products. Cater this to your target audience and the values they also find important.
Choose Your Voice
This is how you express your brand through the words you use in marketing and selling your products, helping consumers use your product, and communicating with both customers and employees.
For example, if you're aiming to be approachable and friendly, an aloof or overly formal brand voice will discourage potential customers. [quotesright]But if you're a B2B business, using emojis in your emails may cause some head scratching. [/quotesright]
Write a list of attributes you'd like to see in your brand's voice. Make sure the voice is carried through all channels of your business. The goal is to make customers feel like the same “person” is speaking to them whenever they interact with your business.
Wrapping Up
If you're a busy business owner, brand building may seem like a headache. But taking the time to get your brand sorted now will make it much easier as you grow. Not only will you keep consistency for your customers, but your brand will be unique and recognizable for potential customers as well.
Need Help?
We are experts at helping you identify your markets and develop your messaging and positioning so you have a great brand. Give us a call or email to discover how we can help. USA: 877.433.6225 feedback@focalpointcoaching.com
