Brand development is an important part of marketing, and unless you can understand how to create a recognizable and consistent brand, your business will suffer. When you are easily and instantly recognizable to customers, not only do they feel like they know you, but you are also the brand that will come to mind when they need your services or to purchase your products.
Measure your Brand’s Performance
Use metrics to track the effectiveness of your brand’s strategy and make data-driven decisions about future branding efforts. Marketing attribution is an important aspect of monitoring the results of your advertising efforts. Both direct advertising, such as ads placed on websites, and indirect advertising, such as content creation and podcast appearances, are important to your marketing strategy and should be included in your measurements.
Define Your Target Audience
Understand who your customers are and what they need and want. When developing a marketing plan, many experts recommend creating your “ideal customer”, an imaginary person who defines for you what your customers will look like. Developing your marketing plan and brand to appeal to this person can help keep you focused and on track.
Identify Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Determine what sets your brand apart from the competition, known as you your unique selling proposition, or USP. This is similar to identifying your niche, however, your USP is more specialized. For example, your niche might be selling pet supplies, but your USP is more detailed. What makes your store different from the other pet stores in town? Perhaps you target wealthy pet owners, partner with a dog-training facility, or specialize in reptile supplies. There are many ways to make your brand stand out, even in areas with a lot of competition.
Develop a Brand Strategy
Create a plan that outlines how you will communicate your brand’s identity and message to your target audience. Your brand strategy will help you keep your brand consistent while you are developing your logo, marketing plan, and other details. Companies with well-developed and consistent brand styles become easily recognized and, in the case of national companies, people can usually tell which ad belongs to which company before the logo or name come up, simply by recognizing the brand style.
Create a Consistent Visual Identity
Develop a logo, color scheme, and overall visual design that represents your brand. Using your brand strategy to guide you, make sure that your style is consistent and recognizable. For example, you don’t want bright colors on your logo and muted, dark colors in all your online advertisements. Similarly, if your brand style is sophisticated and understated, you wouldn’t want to use a flashy, dramatic logo. It is important to develop your scheme before you start creating your logo, signage, brochures, and website.
Establish a Brand Voice
Determine how your brand will communicate, including tone, language, and messaging. Again, this needs to be consistent and will be part of your marketing plan. If your brand is modern and edgy you might have a loud, bold voice. If you are a lifestyle brand that markets to new moms, your voice will be very different. In all cases, a touch of humor and an understanding of current trends can help you with the written part of your marketing.
Build a Strong Online Presence
Establish a website and active social media accounts that reflect your brand’s identity and message. All of your brand’s social marketing accounts should stay consistent with your brand voice and marketing plan. If you hire people to manage these accounts, you will need to be very clear about the voice and style that they should use when communicating. This is why it’s so helpful to have a clear, well-written marking and brand strategy from the beginning of your business.
Leverage Content Marketing
Create valuable, relevant content that educates and informs your target audience and establishes your brand as an authority. Content is a great way to establish a trusted online presence, grow your audience, and build rapport with your customers. Content is usually published on websites, blogs, and through social media channels. Video content is also valuable and can help people understand visual topics, such as how to use your products.
Build Relationships
Connect with customers, partners, and influencers to build a strong network of support for your brand. Networking is a great way to meet other people who are important in your field, both locally and on a broader scale. You can also network in the online world by meeting people with an online presence, hosting important content creators on your social media, and appearing on podcasts.
Continuously Evaluate and Adapt
Stay up-to-date on industry trends and be prepared to adapt your brand’s strategy as needed. While it’s important to begin with a well-planned and established marketing plan, it’s also important to change your plan when needed. If your plan is outdated, isn’t working, or needs to be updated, be willing to adapt and adjust. In most cases, this won’t require a full-scale change, but will rather involve gentle and gradual modifications as time goes on. Many large corporations have modernized and updated their marketing strategy over the years without compromising their brand image.
Create a Brand Story
Create a narrative that explains your brand’s purpose, values, and mission. Your brand story is the “why” behind what you do, who you are, and who you serve. Your values and mission as a company define how your business will be run, and it also allows people to connect with you on a more personal level. When people know who you are and what your goals are, as well as the things that drive you, they can establish relationships with you beyond the services or goods you provide. Simple things, like showcasing employees on your social media and supporting causes can help you create a brand story.
Be Consistent
Maintaining consistent visual identity and messaging across all platforms and interactions is key to establishing a brand voice. If you are consistent and recognizable, you will become a company that people feel is trustworthy and they can connect with. Having a consistent image allows people to instantly recognize you, and over time, your business will become a “face” that feels comfortable and safe to your customers. When they need something, they will come to you because they know you.
Conclusion
Marketing is a complicated and confusing subject that many businesses struggle to get right. One of the things that will help you in this marking journey is understanding how to establish and stick with a clear and recognizable brand voice and style. Following these tips will help you get started developing a recognizable and trustworthy brand style.