Building a brand is no easy feat. It seems bigger than a breadbasket! The good thing is there are five key steps that you can take to begin establishing your brand. Your goal should be to build more than a business, build a brand that people want to do business with!
It is helpful to understand the meaning of the term “brand” - simply put, your brand is defined by a customer’s overall perception of your business. There are five elements that are critical to establishing your brand, thereby connecting to your ideal customer:
1. Outline a strategy – create a blueprint for how you want people to view your business. This is the first step you should take when creating a brand from the ground up (whether you are just starting or already established). Your brand strategy should outline how you are different, trustworthy, memorable, and likable. The strategy will ensure all of your tactical elements work together to magnify your brand.
2. Be authentic – authenticity helps you focus on what truly matters. Communicating honestly about your product or service encourages engagement. Sharing real stories from real people makes your brand relatable, so capitalize on client testimonials and case studies of how you have impacted your customers.
3. Provide value – demonstrate expertise and offer insights of the product/service you offer. Generate interest in your business and communicate how the brand is helping solve a problem. Share what is in it for the customer in every exchange.
4. Create a clear message – a simple, compelling, persuasive value proposition that clearly articulates how you uniquely meet potential customers’ needs is vital. Your value proposition should detail: the benefits of your brand, why the benefits are valuable, how you solve your target customer’s problem and how you are different from other solutions. Creating something that resonates with your customers has a lot of power to shape the way the brand is viewed.
5. Be consistent in your communication and experience – a successful brand has to be consistent across all areas: environment (if you have a physical location), print collateral, signage, packaging, website and customer service. Inconsistency will confuse your customers, and make long-term brand building more difficult.
The truth is branding doesn’t happen overnight…or even in a few months. It is the long term commitment to sustain and grow your business. Take the first step in this important process and develop your brand strategy, you will be executing and exposing your brand in no time.