Many businesses now know the importance of establishing a brand. But often, perception of what a brand is can get confusing. You know you need it, but may not know exactly what it is.
On the outside, you may think of your brand as being your logo, name and colouring, maybe your website, but your brand is the entire identity of your business.
If your business was a person, the brand would be their personality.
A brand is the entire experience that a customer has with a company. You can influence how someone will perceive your business, but it’s actually your customers job to build their own image of your brand. Your business will leave an impression on your audience long after you have made the sale, and your branding is the process of shaping this impression. As Jeff Bezos says, “branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Let’s have a look at some of the ways you can influence your customers to build a positive and lasting impression of your business! First, you need to pick your target audience. In the same way that not every human personality gels together, not every person will gel with your brand – making it important that you identify who it is that you’re trying to talk to. Who is going to buy your product or services? What do they like? How do they speak to each other? For example, you wouldn’t try and sell expensive jewellery using the same language you would use to sell children’s toys. Knowing who your target audience is will help you to make the right impression, to the right people – letting them build your brand through a personal connection. After all, you’re speaking directly to them!
Knowing who your target audience is will help you out with this next part – define the personality of your business.
The way you communicate with your audience needs to be consistent and reliable. Determining a tone of voice, what values your business will hold, your mission, and how you look will all form this personality. Make sure that you are consistent everywhere your customers go, your website, social media, communications, office, and brand collateral all need to look like they have come out of the mind of your business’ personality. This way, your audience knows what to expect when they picture your brand.
Now that you know the personality of your business, you need to establish how it will look!
This will help your customers identify your business at a glance. Choosing which colours, fonts and imagery will be used are important elements of your look. Turning these choices into a set of guidelines will help you keep things consistent across all platforms and build trust with your customers – they know exactly what to expect from you. Consistency is crucial!
It’s important to remember that a good brand takes time to develop. You need to build your audience, give them a positive experience with a recognisable aesthetic, and watch them build your brand!
