The Beginner’s Guide to Branding: 7 Steps for Building Your Own
In today's busy world, making your mark and connecting with people who care about what you do is really important. Whether you're just starting out in business, working for yourself, or dreaming of becoming an online influencer, building your own brand can be a fun adventure with lots of rewards. If you're ready to start, here's a step-by-step guide to help you get there.
Step 1: Know Your Reason and Who You Want to Reach
Before you do anything else, figure out why you want to build a brand and who you want to reach. Understanding your purpose and who you're talking to will help you make smart choices as you build your brand.
Knowing why you want to build a brand: Provides clarity of vision. It helps you define your goals and objectives clearly, guiding your actions and decisions throughout the branding process.
Your brand's purpose: Should align with your personal or organizational values. This alignment fosters authenticity, which is crucial for building trust and credibility with your audience.
Defining your purpose: Gives your brand a sense of direction and helps you stay focused on your long-term goals, even amidst challenges and changes in the market.
Step 2: Decide What Your Brand Looks and Sounds Like
Your brand is what makes you different from everyone else. Think about what you stand for and how you want people to see you. Create a look and a voice for your brand that feels right to you and makes sense to the people you want to reach.
Logo and Design Elements: Your logo is the face of your brand, but it's not just about slapping together some colors and shapes. It should encapsulate your brand's essence and resonate with your target audience. Alongside the logo, consider other design elements such as typography, color palette, and imagery that will consistently represent your brand across all platforms. Here are some tips from Adobe about the process of creative a logo and brand identity “What is brand identity and why does it matter?”
Brand Guidelines: Establishing clear brand guidelines ensures consistency in how your brand is presented visually. These guidelines outline rules for logo usage, color codes, typography, imagery style, and more. Consistency is key to building brand recognition and trust.
Tone and Personality: Your brand's voice sets the tone for all communication with your audience. Are you formal or informal? Playful or serious? Find a tone that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your brand's personality. Consistency in voice helps build brand familiarity and trust.
Storytelling: Just like visuals, words can be incredibly powerful in conveying your brand's story. Share the journey behind your brand, the passion driving your mission, and the impact you aspire to make. Authentic storytelling helps forge emotional connections with your audience, fostering loyalty and advocacy.
Step 3: Get Online
Being online is really important for getting your brand out there. Make a website that looks professional and is easy to use. Use social media to share stuff that's interesting and helpful to your audience.
Engagement and Interaction: Your brand's voice extends beyond marketing materials to customer interactions. Whether responding to comments on social media or addressing customer inquiries, maintain a consistent tone that reflects your brand's personality and values. Every interaction is an opportunity to reinforce your brand identity.
Here are more tips on how to gain and retain brand engagement from Peek&Poke. “A Guide to Brand Engagement (Strategies + Examples)”
Step 4: Keep Things Consistent
Make sure everything about your brand looks and sounds the same, no matter where people find you. This helps them recognize you and know what to expect.
Brand Recognition: Consistency reinforces your brand's visual and verbal cues, making it easier for consumers to recognize and recall your brand amidst a sea of competitors. Familiarity breeds trust, and consistent branding helps solidify your brand's presence in the minds of consumers.
Professionalism and Trust: Consistency in branding signals professionalism and reliability. When all elements of your brand - from logo and colors to tone of voice and messaging - align seamlessly across different platforms and channels, it creates a cohesive and trustworthy image in the eyes of your audience.
Step 5: Show How You’re Different
Think about what makes you special and tell people about it. Let them know why they should choose you over someone else.
Innovate and Iterate: Continuously innovate and improve your products or services to stay ahead of the competition. Whether it's through new features, improved processes, or unique offerings, demonstrate your commitment to providing value in fresh and exciting ways.
Be Authentic: Authenticity is key to standing out in a crowded marketplace. Stay true to your brand's values and personality in everything you do, from marketing campaigns to customer interactions. Authenticity builds credibility and fosters long-term loyalty with your audience.
Check out this Forbes article with easy tips on how to make your brand stand out form others “Five Tips To Make Your Business Stand Out”
Step 6: Make Friends and Word Together
Building relationships with other people and businesses can help your brand grow faster. Look for chances to team up with others who share your goals.
Cross-Promotion: Exchange promotional opportunities with your partners to introduce each other to your respective audiences. This could include guest blogging, social media shoutouts, or featuring each other's products in newsletters or email campaigns.
Feedback and Improvement: Solicit feedback from your partners to continuously improve your collaborative efforts. Learn from each collaboration experience and adapt your approach to maximize the effectiveness of future partnerships.
This is a post from LinkedIn going into detail how to improve your brand online. “10 ways social media can help you to build your brand online”
Step 7: Keep an Eye on How You’re Doing
Pay attention to what's working and what's not. Look at things like how many people visit your website or like your social media posts. Use what you learn to make your brand even better.
Website Analytics: Utilize tools like Google Analytics to track important metrics such as website traffic, bounce rate, time spent on site, and conversion rates. Analyze which pages are performing well and which may need improvement to enhance the overall user experience.
Social Listening: Monitor social media channels for mentions of your brand and relevant keywords. Pay attention to both positive and negative sentiment to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in your brand perception.
Competitive Analysis: Keep an eye on your competitors' branding strategies and performance metrics. Identify areas where they excel and areas where they fall short to gain insights into opportunities and potential threats for your own brand.
Here is a article from Sprout Social going into detail about the different types of analytics and how to optimize your use for them. “Social media analytics: The complete guide”
So, there you have it! Building your own brand doesn't have to be hard. Just take it one step at a time, and before you know it, you'll have a brand that's all your own.
