1. Don’t Underestimate the Value of Your Brand
Essentially your brand is your company. It may not be a tangible thing but much like your personality, it can have a huge impact on those you meet, good and bad. It sits in the minds of your customers so remember, they control who you are as a brand, you only get to influence them.
2. Be Different
If a customer feels your brand is interchangeable with another you have a problem.
Don’t try to copy or emulate others in the same market, customers are searching for alternatives. Spend the time to find this early on, its the single most important value of your brand and it makes every other part of your marketing easier when you nail it.
Your uniqueness can be found in many different places but look to offer real value in the mind of your customer and be aware that values like quicker, faster and bigger, although important can more easily be copied by your competitor.
3. Develop your Internal Brand
When you develop an internal brand you identify four things that should become the cornerstone of your existence and they will provide the building blocks for the future growth of your business. 1. Purpose: what is the reason your business exists beyond making money. 2. Vision: What do you think your brand will look like in the future, maybe 5-10 years. 3. Mission: What are you going to do on a daily basis to achieve that vision. 4. Value: What values are important to your brand that you should never lose sight of.
4. Keep an eye on Trust
The goal of any brand must be trust. Through all your efforts to grow and develop your brand, always keep an eye on building that trust.
Trust is what nearly every purchasing decision is made from and it’s where loyalty extends from, it’s followed by word-of-mouth appreciation and ultimately develops reputation. Trust is an emotion and it won’t be earned through just a business transaction but by developing a relationship, so try to offer real value and resonate on a personal level.
5. Merge the Disciplines
Your brand is where creativity meets business strategy and all the best brands in the world understand this, its the difference between an average brand and an amazing brand.
Creativity and strategy are often seen at opposite ends of the system. Strategy is seen as a boardroom decision and creativity as a requirement of those decisions. These are old fashioned ideas, the result of an outdated academic education and a logic-driven business culture.
Entrepreneurs are naturally creative people they blend innovative thought with commercial intent from the outset and as such are best placed to merge the disciplines.
6. Understand your Customer
Everything in branding starts with the customer. Align the needs of your customers with the product or service you offer, if you don’t offer a solution to a specific set of customers, you don’t have a business. Understand everything about your customers, from their age and sex to their likes, dislikes, and most importantly their needs.
7. Understand the Competition
It’s important to know what they are doing better than you, so you can improve your offering. It’s equally important to know what they are doing badly and focus on increasing that gap, that may just help define your brand. Additionally, think of what they are not doing because that is a gap in the market your brand can own for itself.
8. Use Design Wisely
The look and feel of your brand is a huge opportunity to differentiate yourself from the competition and it’s one of the best tools you have to influence your customers. Before you commission a logo or website or any other visual element make sure they are all based on your internal brand. The biggest mistake many companies make is creating a visual identity that has no substance and is designed simply to look good.
9. Define your Tone of Voice
How we say things in life is important and the tone of our voice can instill reassurance as easily as it can create disinterest and your brand is no different. What you say and how you say it should be as much a part of your brand as you visual expression but they should both complement each other.
10. Stop Talking About Yourself
The biggest trap businesses fall into when writing their marketing material is talking in the first tense, we are the best, we have developed, we know how, etc. Your brand will be much more relevant if it feels like it’s been written directly for the customer and how it can help them specifically.
