There is more to starting a business than simply creating a fantastic product or service. Once you have what you plan to sell, you must put yourself out there. Your brand is the face of your company. It’s the image people see when they scroll by your ad or arrive on your webpage for the first time. It’s the tone of voice they hear when they read your content.
Good branding allows you to present your product to your audience in the best way to convert them into clients. But how do you cultivate a brand that sticks? You need to get your creative juices flowing and get in touch with what makes your product necessary and unique. This thoughtful advice from CEOs who’ve been right where you are can help you curate a brand that makes a splash.
Do Your Market Research
Once you have your product ready to go, you need to dig deep and determine who your potential customers will be. That way, you can cultivate a brand that speaks directly to them.
Zone In on Your Target Audience
You want your branding and message to reflect your target audience. Who are you planning on selling your product or service to? Where do they live? How old are they? What job might they have? What problems might they have that your product or service could solve?
Drew Sherman, VP of Marketing at RPM says, “The first step to developing clear branding is getting in touch with who your audience is. Imagine their wants and need. Create a personality for them. How would you talk to that person? What sort of images might they be attracted to? The most specific you can be about who they are, the clearer your message and branding will become.”
Build your brand around communicating effectively with your target audience. Engage your imagination. Utilize social media and other tools to see how your audience interacts with other brands online. How could your brand fit in that picture?
Analyze the Competition
Another way to dig deeper into your target audience and build a memorable brand is to analyze the competition. Note their brand imagery, tone, and how they engage with their audience. You won’t copy them directly, but use these items for reference.
“Checking in with your competition will give you clues on the most effective ways to reach your target audience,” mentions Alex Novak, CEO of SLR app. “Note which keywords and hashtags they use to reach their target audience and keep a list. Remember, you want to rise above the competition—take what they do and improve it.”
Tools like Semrush can help you analyze multiple competitors by showing which keywords they use, how much traffic reaches their sites, and more. Use this information to compare your product against your competitors and learn more about your target audience’s pain points and needs.
Define What Makes Your Brand Unique
Now that you’ve compared and contrasted your product against your competitors, you can start listing everything that makes your company unique.
“Hone in on what makes you different than your competition. Is your product more affordable or user-friendly? Do you focus on sustainability? How could you use your branding to communicate those differences to your audience? Highlighting what makes YOU unique will help place you above the competition,” says Andrew Chen, Chief Product Officer for Videeo.
Think about how your brand could solve problems the competition hasn’t considered. Imagine how your imagery and tone can effectively communicate your brand’s unique message to your target audience.
Imagine Your Brand as a Person
While you perform market research, find ways to imagine your brand as a person. After all, you want to create authentic connections with your target audience, which will become easier when you come from a human place rather than a commercial one.
“Find ways to think of your brand as a person. What kind of personality would they have? What might their favorite color be? How do they interact with people or start a conversation?” asks Asker A Ahmed, Director of iProcess Global Research. “Humanizing your brand will make it easier for you to communicate your needs to a graphic designer and creative director when creating your logo, writing your mission statement, and launching your brand.”
Imagining your brand as a person will help you get in touch with the emotions of your target demographic. Rather than simply selling to them, a brand with a personality can communicate to their concerns.
Create Branded Imagery
Once you complete your market research, you can get your creative juices flowing. Now is the time to create your brand’s image using color, font, photos, and video to communicate who you are to your audience.
Start With a Messy Mood Board
Get out the glue sticks, cardboard, and old magazines. Find images that resonate with you and colors and fonts you feel represent your brand identity. Include brands you love and note how they communicate who they are to their audience.
“Even though you’ll most likely work with an expert design team to craft your brand logo, have fun in the creative process. Play with colors and fonts and create a visual to help communicate to them how you imagine your branding should look,” mentions Cody Candee, Founder and CEO of Bounce Luggage Storage.
Have fun. Your visual aid doesn’t have to be perfect. Leave that to the experts. Simply use it to communicate your ideas to them so they can help you bring your brand image to life.
Work With a Graphic Designer
Now comes the time to enlist expert help. Unless you are an experienced graphic designer, hire a creative team or outsource to an agency to develop your brand’s imagery.
Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder and CEO of OSDB. says, “Investing in a graphic designer and creative director is worth every penny. They can turn your vision into a memorable logo that can communicate your brand message to the world visually.”
Once you hire a creative team, your job is far from over. You’ll need to work with them directly to ensure your brand message is effectively communicated. Make adjustments as necessary to find what best fits your brand.
Create a Brand Kit
Then, you’ll want to implement your new logo in your marketing and social media campaigns. Building a brand kit using Canva allows you to neatly organize your typeface, logos, and templates for your entire team.
According to Michael Baghoomian, CEO of Muscle MX, “You want to tell the same visual story across all platforms. Use the same fonts in all your social media posts. Align your photos and videos to your brand’s logo by implementing similar colors. Do everything you can to tell a cohesive visual story that will stick in your customer’s minds.”
A well-organized brand kit will help you and your team continue to tell a consistent story as your company expands.
Develop Your Brand’s Voice
Cultivating a memorable brand goes beyond images. You’ll also need to use words to communicate your message to your target audience. Your market research helped you develop who you are talking to. Now it’s time to find the proper tone to address them and share who you are and what you stand for.
Define Your Company’s Mission
You’ve identified what problems your product or service can solve for your target audience and what makes you different from the competition. Combine that with the unique personality you created for your brand to craft a mission statement.
“Understanding what your brand stands for is key to separating yourself from the competition. A strong mission statement will give your brand legs to stand on—and allow you to develop the unique voice you use to address your audience on your webpage, in emails, and on social media,” says Will Blum, Founder and CEO of Bluebird Hardwater.
Find your tone through your mission statement. Is your brand smart and sassy or technical and informed? Play around with language to find vocabulary that matches the visual brand you’ve built with your creative team. Your mission statement will help you develop clear, direct copy you can use to communicate with your target audience.
Develop a Brand Slogan
Brand slogans use language to stick in your audience’s minds. Examples include the infamous “Just Do It” or “I’m Loving It.” When you hear these taglines, you immediately know someone is referencing Nike or McDonald’s.
“A good slogan can be as powerful as your brand’s logo,” says Maegan Griffin, Founder, CEO, and nurse practitioner at Skin Pharm. “They’ll enforce your brand’s voice in a few simple words and are easy to turn into hashtags for social media.”
Allow the taglines you use in your business to evolve. As your business expands, your audience may help you discover a slogan that better fits who you’ve become.
Master Your Brand Voice and Adjust Tone for Various Circumstances
You’ve researched and worked with a creative team to establish your brand’s imagery and voice. Now it’s time to put yourself out into the world. Engage with your audience on social media, on your website, and through emails.
“Once you understand your brand’s voice, tweak your tone for various mediums,” mentions Soji James, Lead Expert Certified personal trainer at 1AND1 Life. “People don’t communicate on Twitter the same way as via email or Instagram. Observe how your audience engages on each platform and adjust your tone to communicate effectively.”
Remember, you cultivated your brand by imagining it as a real person. A real person doesn’t engage the same way in every conversation. Allow different aspects of your brand’s personality to shine through while staying true to who you are.
Stay Flexible
Cultivating a strong brand is an ever-evolving process. Use data analysis tools to track how your audience engages with your brand. Be willing to make changes and adjustments as your business grows. The brands that stick continue to do this work long after they’ve launched.
