Branding is a crucial part of your business, setting it apart from the competition and giving it its unique identity. It’s also a part of how you can create loyalty and trust with your customers.
You make your brand a part of your company with logos, visual design, message, and tone. Before you can create your brand, though, you need to have a clear idea of what it is you want customers to think of when they see or hear your company name.
Start With a Message
Your message should be one that clearly states what your business does, what it stands for, and what sets it apart from the others.
And your message should be included all across your marketing platforms, like your website, your social media pages, your packaging, and even your business cards. Your brand message should reflect your values, such as a commitment to the environment and sustainability or embracing diversity or free trade practices.
And make sure your message is conveyed in such a way that it speaks to your target audience in a way they can appreciate.
Create a Logo That Reflects Your Brand
Start by creating an online mood board or even use a whiteboard. This will be your visual brainstorming center. Start by collecting fonts, images, and colors that you feel best represent your message, your values, and your personality. Then, once you have a good idea of what you imagine it will look like, start sketching out some ideas. They don’t have to be perfect, they’ll just be a rough draft to see where your ideas take you. After you’ve done that, take your favorite and start refining it by adding color, texture, and other design elements.
Take a look at your competitors to make sure your logo is different enough from theirs so that yours is unique and easily distinguishable.
Marketing Your Brand
Defining your target audience saves you money by narrowing the focus of your marketing dollars to the group that will be most likely to purchase your product or service.
The first step will be to find out who your target audience is by developing a research plan. One of the best ways to do this is to ask your current clients to answer questions like age and location demographics as well as their purchasing habits, i.e.online, in person, etc. This is most easily done on social media, where you have the opportunity to interact with your customers.
With that information, you’ll be able to create a more effective marketing campaign on your social media sites, marketing materials, and website. Then monitor your efforts by measuring your website analytics, website traffic, social media engagement, and, of course, sales.
Finding Professional Help
Some of these you can do yourself, but other times you’ll want to hire professional help with things like website development and marketing design. You can find talented and skilled freelancers on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and LinkedIn.
Online help is also available with apps like logo creators that can pull designs from hundreds of templates and other design elements and Facebook marketing apps and tools.
Learn All You Can About the Business of Business
Being an entrepreneur means wearing a lot of hats. Learning all you can about the business of business greatly increases your chances of business success. With an education in business, you’ll be more informed about finance, problem-solving, and best marketing strategies.
Whether you want to pursue a business degree in accounting, business, communication, or management, you can take advantage of online courses to attend classes on your own schedule and at your own pace. This may help you obtain certifications for business analytics, entrepreneurship, and more to match your career goals.
Branding creates an emotional bond with your audience and helps them remember your business and what it stands for, like your values, your quality of service, and your mission. Take time to make sure you get it right at the start. Whether you hire professionals or pursue an education in business, knowing how branding and marketing work can mean the difference between business success and failure.
by Courtney Rosenfeld
TV Shows City is your television show, news, business, and entrepreneur community news site. Visit to stay up to date.