Creating a successful brand is a vital step in vanquishing the competition and convincing your potential buyers of the reliability of the product and service you provide. Luck is not enough and you must first of all make careful considerations, observe the behavior of your competitors and think carefully about the founding ethical principles and mission of your business. Start reading Step 1 to learn how to build your brand.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Classic Methods for Creating Your Brand
Step 1. Decide who you are
To create your brand, you must first understand who you are. What brand do you want to create? The question sounds simple, but there are many things to consider before giving an answer. What is the role of your brand? How do you want others to see you? What are the founding values of your business? Consider that customers should think of your brand as a being with its own identity and life, so deciding its main characteristics in advance becomes a crucial point.
Step 2. Choose your brand colors
Choose the colors that best represent your brand and remember that their combination should always be able to evoke the idea of your company in the minds of customers. Think of the yellow and red McDonald's logo, the red, yellow, green and blue of Google, or the white and green of wikiHow.
Step 3. Create a logo
Your logo will also help remind the customer of your brand. In fact, when we see a check mark on a sheet, we immediately think of Nike. The logo, therefore, must be well done (contact a professional) and you should always try to highlight it.
Step 4. Choose your brand style
Choosing your brand's style is another key step, so try to figure out if you want it to be modern and chic, fun and colorful or classic and elegant. The style you choose should also be reflected in all elements of your business (brochures, online site, products, offices, etc.). The famous apple from Apple is perhaps the most fitting example.
Step 5. Curate your brand language
Look for some keywords or phrase that you would like to associate with your brand. Use this motto not only in your products or advertisements, but also in your speeches, when introducing your company or addressing other people.
Step 6. Keep it simple
Your brand needs to be memorized quickly and recognized with ease. It must therefore be unique, but also very simple and direct. Keep the logo and motto as simple and immediate as possible. A good example of this can be the motto used by Apple in the 1990s and early 2000s "Think different". This sentence was very effective because it gave the idea of a brilliant, unique brand, in step with the times and the concept could be carried very easily in speeches and product presentations. The key is therefore to create a brand that is naively effective.
Part 2 of 3: What to do
Step 1. Be persistent
Stubbornness is the key to the success of any business. You have to spend a lot of time investing in your brand and trying to advertise it better. Brands don't just happen overnight, they take years of hard work behind them. Don't be disappointed if you don't achieve the desired results within a year! You will get there, calmly.
Step 2. Tell your story
People remember things that fit into a story more easily and will identify more with the things that make them feel an integral part of it. In the 1980s and 1990s, Microsoft committed to portraying itself as a company that created itself from scratch to become one of the most innovative and effective in the field of computing. This story has remained in the minds of many people who, recognizing themselves in this way of thinking and feeling part of this story, have bought Microsoft products. Give others a story they can reflect on to boost your brand.
Step 3. Be reliable and consistent
Your company doesn't have to look like a weather vane, but it needs to be able to capture a single market share for a lasting amount of time, before extending. Even when you decide to expand your market, do it logically and consistently. If you try to follow the news of the moment too much, you risk appearing a little reliable and your brand will appear unstable in the eyes of your customers.
Step 4. Be transparent
It is important that your brand inspires trust and that the customer sees your company as an old friend. How would you feel if you found out that your best friend has been making fun of you the whole time? Bad, right? This is exactly the kind of feeling you need to try to avoid at all costs. Let your customers understand how you work, where the money goes, and what your real priorities are. Even if there are sometimes things wrong, it is important that they are true and put in the best possible light.
Step 5. Try to get noticed
If you want your brand to be successful in the long term, you need to try to create unique and innovative products and keep up with the times. Enter a particular industry or find a way to do things better than the competition. Shoppers don't switch brands just because they think it's good, but because they find it great.
Step 6. Make your customers feel unique
Try to understand how your buyers would like to feel and try to adapt your brand to their needs. Do they want to feel powerful? Responsible? Conscientious? Brilliant? Unique? Your brand should evoke a certain type of feeling through targeted marketing. Try to convey these emotions not only through language, but also through the colors and design of your products.
Part 3 of 3: Join Social Networks
Step 1. Create a crazy website
In the age of the internet and social networks, it is okay to advertise your brand through traditional means, but if you do not have at least one website you will be considered out of date and not very accessible. Hire a professional, use the right fonts and create a great website. At a minimum, it should contain information about your brand, your office locations, opening and closing times, and your main contacts.
Step 2. Subscribe to social networks
This is a vital step in getting your brand out there nowadays. Create a profile in each social network and update them all regularly. You don't have to bombard people with information, but you also don't have to use your accounts just to write cold ads. Instead, you should share articles or related material to attract your customers and give them a chance to interact. For example, if you have a travel agency, post a photo of a beautiful place and add a similar message: "Let's count the days until summer holidays and some well-deserved rest. Where will you go this year?"
Step 3. Get involved in the community
Try to get involved in your community, organize events or participate in evenings organized by others, dedicated to volunteering and try to be active. This is a great way to let your potential customers know what your brand is made of.
Step 4. Talk to your customers
You need to interact with the people who buy your products in such a way that they understand the brand well and feel part of it. Try to best represent the values of your company through your words and actions and always try to gather the opinions of your customers.
Step 5. Be honest and sincere
The easiest way to make your brand appear sincere and trustworthy is to make it as human as possible. Be honest and let your customers know what your brand can give them. Show him your enthusiasm and involvement, but above all your passion. You also need to try to stand out by being more responsible or worrying about important issues, such as sustainability and respect for the environment. This will show others that you, like everyone, recognize your shortcomings and want to try to improve yourself.
Step 6. Don't get annoying
Continuously advertising your brand in an annoying way, in inappropriate contexts or to people who are not interested, will not help your brand's success. Try not to flood your customers' inboxes. Remember that your brand needs to be seen as a person, so keep it sober and friendly. You certainly don't want your company to be seen as an annoying street vendor!
