Nike, Sony, Microsoft all share one thing in common: they’re all extremely known brands that have offered value in markets to enhance their branding. Building a brand takes time, and is the essence of business development. Branding allows companies to increase consumer awareness, and the value that goes along with it. Although there are no quick remedies to creating overall brand success, there’s key things that you can do to increase brand exposure and presence in the market.
Why do I need branding?
Think of branding as your reputation. Branding defines the impression you make to the world, and can enhance what makes you special as a company. Brands around the world, including a wide range of small businesses, capitalize on brand development to increase business, and overall retention rate for sales.
Define Your Brand
The initial stage of creating a brand is for you to understand the brand that you want to create. This step will allow you to understand the direction you want to take the brand. Write down key strengths that are defined within your brand. Are you looking to promote your own brand for personal use? Consider the value you bring with your expertise and talent that you possess. Consider what value you bring to the table to benefit society as a whole. This will allow you to see the big picture of brand development, and steps you need to take to move forward.
We all have beliefs, values, and personalities that define who we are. Think of your brand as a person, in this sense. You need to understand what value you bring, and create a personality that can drive into the market to reach the largest amount of consumers.
Create a Memorable Identity
You need a logo, and a name that is unique, and represents a key focus of what you’re trying to sell. The logo can be cool text that you think works, or a symbol that reflects you brand. This is a topic of its own, as logo creation can be tricky if not done correctly. Try to personalize your brand with an identity that stands out.
One of the most popular ways to increase brand value is to allow customers to be involved in co-creating the brand values. This allows them to be connected to the brand, and feel that they are involved. One concept would be to allow the consumer to personalize specific products that will meet their needs.
The future of branding is much different from before – customers understand value of branding, and want to see how you’re different from the competition. You can’t just create a logo, and call it branding anymore. Branding consist of the identity integrated with the message that you send to the world. It’s what defines you.
What is your Differentiation?
In order to differentiate from the competition, you need to create value that is different. What unique advantage does your brand have over other brands in the same market? The value proposition will allow you to create a strategy of how to position your brand to move forward. Some companies don’t charge for shipping, have product discounts, or contribute a percentage of their sales to a charity. All of these can differentiate your brand in some ways.
Building your Brand
Building a brand takes time, and consistency. It requires that you build a reputation by reinforcing your values and differentiation traits. We often use Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin) as a means to promote brand value to reach the largest consumer base. Good content creation with blogs, websites, and YouTube contribute to the overall value that you bring.
Evaluate Your Brand
Everything that you do will impact how your brand does. From initial execution for the log to the content that you create to show off the value you have in the market, your brand will either strengthen or get weaker. It requires constant commitment to showing off your value, and presenting it to the world to see.
