When you are starting a new company, it is crucial to think about how your brand will be different from others in the industry. How can you make your brand memorable? How should you position yourself in relation to competitors? How do you design for maximum impact? These all are questions that you must answer when determining how to make your own brand.
In truth, these are all questions that begin to arise when thinking about how to create a match between what you’re selling and the people to whom you’re trying to sell. In a moment, we’re going to get into everything you need about how to make your own brand and start on the right foot. Just remember that a brand isn’t just a logo or a business name that’s easy to recall. A brand identity is much more than that.
What is a brand?
Before we begin to discuss how to build your own brand, it would be helpful to define what it is. According to Forbes, there are two different definitions. The first was how the term began, and in the beginning, it was synonymous with “trademark.” For example, cattle ranchers in the 1800s would brand their cows with a distinctive mark. That was the brand. Later, company names and product names became associated with the term.
Fast forward to today, and the definition has expanded considerably. For example, the famous marketer David Ogilvy said that a brand is “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes.” In other words, all the things that go into a company or product are part of the brand. It’s about perception.
How does the public perceive your company, products, and services? Their understanding of all that? That’s your brand.
How to build a brand
A business can take many different approaches to build its own unique and powerful brand. The most important thing is that it should be built on the company’s or product’s values and a clear sense of how they want people to perceive them and what makes them competitive within their industry. From there, decisions about design choices are made based on these qualities.
In general, the steps you should follow are these:
- Research the target audience (those most likely to buy your products or services) and your competitors.
- Choose your focus and personality.
- Pick your business name.
- Write a catchy slogan.
- Select the colors and fonts for your brand’s look.
- Design a logo.
Apply your branding across your business and media channels
Understand the market
It is essential to understand the market to be able to speak directly and authentically about what you are selling. How can you know and understand your customers if you don’t even know they exist? Understanding your audience is vital for any business that wants long-lasting success.
Additionally, you have to understand whom you’re competing against. How are your competitors marketing themselves, and what kind of branding do they have? How is their website set up? How can you make sure that yours is different but just as professionally tailored to speak to your audience?
Define your focus and personality
Choosing your brand’s focus and personality is a bit more complicated than it may seem. When defining your brand, you have to take all of the following into account:
- How do you want potential customers to feel when they visit your website?
- What kind of identity are you trying to present, and what would help other people identify with that idea?
- How can we make your online presence stand out from competitors’?
- How will the interests of your target market shape your messaging?
- Does technology play an integral role in shaping your relationship with your audience?
Let your brand evolve
Over time, your brand will evolve. How people perceive your business, products, and services will likely change over time. What that means for you is that brand building essentially never ends, although you should attempt to keep it as consistent as possible.
Remember that no matter what you do, you can’t fully control how people view you. You’re going to have raving fans, and you’ll probably have some haters too. (If you don’t, that’s a pretty good sign people don’t care much about your brand either way, and that’s not good.)
You do have the power to influence perception, though. Making an outstanding first impression and maintaining a sterling reputation goes far when it comes to brand building. We could say much more on the topic of brand building, but what’s outlined above should give you a starting point. Good luck!
