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1 September 2020
How important is a brand? What would NIKE be without the iconic swoosh, or ‘do it’ campaign? How can you recognize Pepsi from Coke? These examples are a perfect way of how effective branding can be for your business.
Branding makes it easy to connect with your audience. No matter your goals, branding can help your business. From raising awareness, driving sales, or traffic to your sites.
Branding is the look, feel, and tone of your business that makes your business recognizable to your target audience. It includes your logos, copy, colors and messages you send about business.
Those entrepreneurs and business owners who can wield branding will see more success in their marketing efforts. Here is how you can properly brand yourself and your business!
Brand Strategy
Before creating your logo or website you need to have a clear written brand strategy. A brand strategy is your cheat sheet about you and your brand.
Brand strategies are your guide to creating all content for your brand and your audience. Whether for yourself or your business you need to ask the right questions for your brand!
Top Questions To Create Your Brand Strategy:
- What is your story?
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What brand do you admire?
- What are my competitors doing and why?
- What unique value does my business offer?
Asking these tough questions help draft your brand story. How will your brand present itself? With your brand strategy you should know what the goal of your brand is. How your brand solves problems for its clients.
It’s important to know what your brand has to offer that makes it different from other competitors, and how it is valuable for your clients. Following other top brands is a great way to emulate how you want your brand to present itself!
Your brand strategy makes it easy to create your brand identity and identify your target audience.
Brand Identity
Creating a brand identity is one of the most important aspects of branding. Combined with your brand strategy, you can determine the best way to show your brand to the world! This is done through your brand identity.
Brand Identity is the messaging, colors, and images that you will use to grow your brand. It includes the fonts, logos, colors, and tone for your brand.
Your brand identity should closely match your brand story, and goals. Depending on your industry it will help guide what colors and fonts work best for your brand. For example, a makeup brand can use bright colors, and handwritten fonts!
Another important aspect of your brand will be your brand voice! This will vary on the goal of your content, and different channels will have different tones. Your brand personality will have its own tone of voice. Some are informal or sarcastic, fun or serious. Use this to accomplish the goals of your brand strategy.
No matter the business, brand identity is a crucial aspect of how you present your business to the world.
Identify Your Target Audience
Why is branding so important to a business? Because it attracts clients to your business. Great branding will attract your ideal clients, and make it easy to drive sales.
Your target audience will be who your brand will directly speak too. This is essential for any business to know their customers and preferences well. Your brand should be customized to your audience and speak directly to them, and in the channels, they are on.
Things To Consider For Your Target Audience:
- Demographics: Age, location and gender are easy indictors of who your audience is and what they like.
- Hobbies: If you are a fitness company, targeting people who love to run will be a great fit. Connect to the dots for like hobbies and interests.
- Platforms; Are you clients on Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook? Where are the best places to reach them, and what kind of content works best on that platform?
Once you identify your target audience, your brand should know how to speak to them directly. Cut through the noise on the internet and reach your target audience with the right messages.
Marketing Your Brand
Once you create a brand strategy, identity, and target audience, it’s time to start creating content and marketing your brand.
Marketing your brand is how your will communicate with your target audience. Combine your strategy and identity to make one clear brand voice and goals! You will be able to cleary show your value to your clients.
Market your brand on social media! Social media is a great way to build a community for your ideal clients. Follow this guide for marketing your brand on social media!
Create nurture campaigns for your brand. These provide detailed information about your brand story, products, and build brand loyalty.
Branding is about consistency. That includes imaging, colors, and types of content. Effective branding needs to be consistent to be memorable to your target audience!
Summary
Branding is how your business presents itself to the world. With the right branding, it will drive sales, and build loyalty. Branding makes your business easy to recognize with match tones, colors, and messages! Needless to say, branding guides almost every aspect of your digital marketing.
How to Brand Yourself or Your Business:
- Write A Brand Strategy
- Create Your Brand Identity
- Identify Your Target Audience
- Marketing Your Brand
Branding is an essential skill for any entrepreneur and business owner. With proper branding, you can make your business recognizable. With proper branding, you can target your ideal audience. Use this to guide the creation of your sites, marketing campaigns, and content!
About The Author:
Catherine Way is the marketing director and content creator at Prime Plus Mortgages: Arizona Hard Money Lenders .
