Beginnings are tough. There’s the fear of failure, the pressure of organizing it all and the doubt in your skills and expertise. With everything that’s going on, you may even consider giving up before you started. Well, we’re here to help you master an important segment of starting your own business. We’re here to talk about brand building.
If you’re only getting started in the business world, you probably have a vague idea about what brand building is and what it’s all about. Don’t despair- we’ve got you covered. Continue reading to learn the basics of the brand building process.
1. The ideal customer
The starting point of your brand building process is definitely your customer.
You need to ensure you know who you’re targeting and who your product is for.
Defining the ideal client implies defining his or her:
- age
- sex
- social status
- level of education
- professional orientation
- cultural background
Once you know who you’re selling your product or services to, you are ready to continue working on your brand.
When defining your target audience, it’s important to think outside of the box. Don’t settle for selling the obvious such as “tech gadgets are for business people”.
Come up with ways to expand your target audience and continue building your brand from there.
2. The Story Behind the Brand
In order for your brand to be successful, it has to be more than a brand, a product or a business offer. It has to have a soul and appeal to the emotional side of your customers.
To put it simply, you need to come up with the story behind your brand.
- What is your mission?
- How do you make people’s lives better?
- What are your ethic principles?
To help you get a hold of it, we’ll show you how world famous brands tackle their brand stories:
“At Sony, our mission is to be a company that inspires and fulfils your curiosity. Everything we do is to move you emotionally.”
“Sport is central to every culture and society and is core to an individual’s health and happiness. Therefore, we believe that, through sport, we have the power to change lives.”
“Welcome to a world where time is the most precious value. Our philosophy is to give things time.”
You see where we’re going with this?
You need to come with the same story which draws your potential customers closer to your brand and gives it personality.
3. The image of your brand
This is the time we introduce you to two majorly important terms related to brand building:
- brand identity: “Brand identity is how a business presents itself to, and wants to be perceived by, its consumer”
- brand image: “Brand image is a set of beliefs held about a specific brand.”
Therefore, you need to think about ways of presenting your brand to your audience and what kind of beliefs you wish they develop for it.
We’re talking about:
- brand colours
- logo
- website design
- typography
- Image style
Think about this as giving your brand a look: Is it fun and cheeky? Is it subtle and minimalistic? Or is it youthful and urban?
Whatever you choose, make sure to show consistency in your choices. It will ensure brand recognition which is immensely important.
4. The marketing strategy
“Marketing is key to the brand building process. Without it, you can’t go very far” says David Pearce, a marketing expert and a writer at Trust My Paper.
Your brand needs a voice so as to ensure that people from the target market learn about it.
This is where you need to introduce the content marketing strategy.
“Content marketing is a form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and distributing content for a targeted audience online” according to Wikipedia.
It includes:
- producing quality, gripping and informative content
- publishing it in a non-promotional way
- channelling it through blogs, social media posts and ghost posts
Your job is to create content which is well-written and which covers trending topics, in order to have people read it. Your brand is hidden somewhere between the lines and you’re promoting it indirectly.
If you have no idea what content marketing is, try to learn more about it since it is inevitable in the brand building process.
Final thoughts
Building a brand is about creating a story. The story has the brand as the main character and the customers as those who interact with it. It needs a vision, a mission, a personality, and a voice. By giving it all four of these, you’re securing a spot on the market.
Use the advice provided above and start building a firm, strong brand. Make sure to cover the basics and build on from there. You’ll be more than satisfied with the results of a well-preformed brand building process.