With increasing globalization, access to finance and decreasing trade barriers, it’s becoming easier for individuals to conduct business. These factors are leading to an increase in competition and products and services offered by various companies have roughly the same quality.

This is where brand equity and brand recognition come into play.

Brand equity is the intangible value that’s added to a company’s services and product. It’s one of the most valuable assets a business owns.

According to a survey conducted by Nielson, around 60% of people prefer to purchase new products from brands they recognize. Your brand establishes the level of credibility and trust consumers have regarding your products and services. It’s essentially the “face” of your business.

Small businesses that are building their brand name from scratch are at an advantage as consumers don’t have any preconceived notions regarding the company. The clean slate gives companies the ability to shape their brand however they want.

But building a brand from scratch isn’t an easy process, it requires a lot of effort and careful planning to get it just right. We’re going to discuss the steps involved in building a unique brand.

1. Identify your Target Audience

If you’re not sure about the demographics of the consumer segment you want to sell to, you’ll never be able to build an effective brand name. Identifying your target audience is the foundation you’re going to build your brand upon. If you don’t get that right your consumers, won’t be able to relate to your brand and you’ll never beat your competitors.

No matter how generic their product is, every company has a particular consumer segment they’re targeting. It’s not enough to have an idea of what your typical consumer looks like; you need to research and be as specific as possible.

You can conduct surveys to filter your consumer market using various factors. These factors can include age, location, income level, education, gender, etc. To gain a competitive advantage you also need to consider the motivations, goals and personalities of your consumers. If you get this step right, you’ll be sure that the right people are viewing your banner and clicking on your ads, etc.

2. Define your Brand Mission Statement

The brand mission statement is basically an expression of the idea that drives your company. It usually revolves around the value a company intends to add, their long-term goals and aspirations. The brand mission statement needs to specific to your target audience so they can relate to it. It must also be aligned with whatever efforts a company makes.

Make sure you dedicate considerable time and thought to this part of the brand-building process because you won’t get to change your mission statement later without consequences.

3. Conduct Competitor Research

Imitating your strongest competitor’s strategy is a sure way of destroying your business before it’s even had a chance to grow. But ignoring their strategies and marketing efforts will also harm your business significantly.

You need to know what they’re planning, where they’re growing, how they’re targeting consumers, in what areas they’re succeeding and failing. You need to do this to make sure your brand stands out in the industry. After all, your end goal is to create a unique brand that convinces consumers to prefer your products and services over others.

You can choose from a number of charts and methods to conduct your competitor analysis.

4. Outline your Brand’s Qualities

After you’re done analyzing your competitors, you’ll know in what areas they’re lacking. You can use this knowledge to offer consumers something unique. Your brand needs to speak to consumers about your competitive advantage.

Some differentiating qualities that companies tend to focus on are better customer services, lower prices, faster delivery and lower carbon footprint. You need to identify yours and conduct all your business processes in a way that improves this quality.

5. Logos, Taglines and Themes

The next step is to give your brand a visual element that appeals to your target audience. The most visual element is your brand logo. It’s going to appear on your products, ads and anything else related to your business.

Create a logo that stands out from your competitors. You need to consider the size, placement, iconography and colours. It’s a good idea to invest money and hire a reputable digital marketing agency for your creative work.

While some companies don’t include a tagline with their logo, most of them do. So if you decide to include a tagline, it needs to resonate with your target audience. Your typical consumer should feel like the tagline is speaking to them directly.

6. Brand Voice and Message

You need to find an appropriate tone for communicating with your audience. It can be authoritative, friendly, informative, technical or professional. Using the correct tone of voice will maximize your chances of connecting with consumers.

Communicate the brand message, who you are, and what you offer, using the appropriate brand voice. The message should convey not only what value your products add but also the importance of that value to your consumers. Eventually, consumers begin to associate a personality type with the brand.

7. Consistency

You need to remain consistent to make your branding strategy a success. If you’re constantly changing your logo, message or tone of communication, it’s going to confuse your target audience. Integrate your brand personality into each business process from designing products to delivering customer service.

When you have to keep up with the trends and change your logo or message, make sure your core brand remains the same. For example, Starbucks changed their logo in 2011 and even after that, the change their sales remained strong because it still conveyed the same idea.

Finally, don’t neglect your digital marketing. Make sure your videos, ads, social media accounts and the content you’re publishing are all in line with your brand personality.

 

If you want to ramp up your digital efforts to promote your brand, get in touch with Devebyte. We’re a digital marketing agency located in Edmonton. Contact us at +1-780-445-4359 to learn more about our services.