When developing your brand, there are many points you need to take into account. It is your basis and what everything you produce should revolve around. We know it’s difficult to break it all down and finalize so we are here to help!
1. Your name. This is your identity. It is the core of your marketing. Use your name consistently before you finalize it. Think about how it sounds rather than how it’s actaully spelled. This is important because you want people to be able to pronounce it well. This will allow it to be said easily and spread to others. It will also allow people to use the phonetics to figure out the spelling when trying to look you up online on search engines.
2. How are you defined? This can often be condensed to your brand’s tagline or slogan. If you can’t say what you stand for in something as simple as that, it is way too complex. You want to be able to tell people what you’re about easily. Most of the top brands use few words such as Nike’s “Just Do It.” and Apple’s “Think Different.” Think about what position you want in your prospect’s mind. Consider things that are associated with your brand as well. This can include things like how a small blue box is a symbol of a Tiffany & Co. box. Create meaning to simple things with your branding.
3. What’s Your Story? Stories are much more easy to remember rather than a bunch of facts. If you creating a background history with a middle and a foreseeable future, people will understand your brand more. Stories from how your brand or product came to be to your location or demographic can make it. With this, you have a basis to develop from just like you do with your name. Your fans own your brand as well in this world of social media so maybe your demographic can evolve with your product as well.
4. Have a visual identity. Just like the blue box makes women think of Tiffany & Co., you want a look and feel for your brand. From colors, the logo and typefaces used, you can brand yourself across all platforms from print to web and intermingle them so that people will see that it is your brand. This will allow more followers on all networks and also give your audience an understanding of what you’re about.
5. Why your brand? You need to set yourself apart from your competition. What problems do you solve for your customers? Why do you matter? People need to know these things about you before they give in. From there, they can remain loyal to your brand and choose you over your competitors.
6. How do you treat your customers and employees? How you treat people plays into how loyal your customers will be to your brand. Make your brand one that has compassion and becomes one with the people rather than setting your brand apart from the people. With social media connections, you can constantly keep up with how others feel about you. You can also make sure your customers are all happy with customer satisfaction.
7. Representation keeps your brand alive. What is the face of your brand? Is it a character you’ve created? Your CEO? Who owns your company’s identity? You want to make sure that your brand can live on. What happens when employees leave? Will they take followers with them? How much of an impact does your specific brand have on your audience. You work so hard on creating your brand and you want it to last.