Marketing your business relies heavily on brand building. If you can’t represent your brand in a way that people can connect with it, no matter how many years you have spent in that business, no fruitful income will come your way. If you can brand well, congratulations—branding is the key to success. But if you cannot, then don’t worry, because this blog is for everyone who wants to know the why of branding.

Do you Understand Branding?

As an ambitious entrepreneur, you’ve already taken the first step by recognizing the importance of branding for the success of your start-up. But with so many aspects to consider and countless design elements to choose from, where do you begin? Let’s first understand what a brand is.

A brand is a creative way to market your business. It establishes a specific position in the market and shapes a business, product, service, individual, or idea. It protects a business from competitors in the same industry and establishes a set of standard practices and guidelines known as brand standards.
Brand building entails creating the brand’s image, the brand’s identity in terms of visual and audible perception, and the intended demographic the brand aims to reach.

Important Factors That You Must Not Ignore

Thoughts on branding should include a few important things. We will talk about each of these factors separately in this section.

1. The intended audience

Any sort of marketing is nothing without knowing your target audience. It’s the first step before you start your actual branding. Understanding your target audience aids in strategic planning. Once you know who your customers are, it is easy to mould your brand as per their desires.

2. Identity of the brand

Then comes your brand voice. The second item on the list requires careful consideration. Without identity, anything is just a hollow pipe. Similarly, your brand will hold nothing if the identity is not aligned. It encompasses your business name, the visual elements that make up your brand, such as logos, colours, the overall aesthetic on social media, and usernames. It also includes the brand’s legacy or history, as well as its positioning or competitive edge over the competition.

3. Voice of the brand

Brand voice is slightly different from brand identity. This is about how your brand sounds, or rather, what it is trying to convey. Defining this helps the company provide a consistent image and message with each customer contact. If your customers expect you to be ‘Twitter’ style or direct with your
messages, then bring those qualities into your web content and other mediums as well.

4. The ideals and the mission

No project can be completed without defined ideals and a specific mission. It gives you a direction that will help you set goals for yourself and make a promise to your customer. Your brand represents your ideals. Both are vital while developing your brand since they keep your decisions in check. Whatever you do, be true to your mission and principles.

5. Style guide

It is essential to note that the brand style guide is just one section of the overall brand playbook. The brand style guide outlines the precise presentation of your company’s brand across various platforms and channels. What are the acceptable uses for your logo, the fonts you use, the tone and voice your brand employs, and even the look and feel of your brand’s cover? When you hire and work with agencies to generate content on your behalf, it is a helpful map.

Attention Please!

The marketing genius Phillip Kotler outlined this key theme in his publication, “Marketing Management: The Millennium Edition,” where he described three important pillars of strategic marketing known as STP, meaning segmentation, targeting, and position. The importance of these three ingredients in marketing lies in the fact that the four marketing mix factors of product, price, place (distribution), and promotion form the basis of most marketing strategies for start-ups or any organization.

How to Build Successful Brand?

Before we jump into the steps of brand building, answer the following questions. It will help you develop your branding strategy effectively.

1. What distinguishes your business from competitors, and why should customers obtain comparable products from your organization?
2. Which users will your website target, what data can you gather about them, and what problems do they encounter?
3. Does your brand personality match the expectations of your target market?
4. How will your brand be represented visually, like the logo, the colour used, and the type of typography to be used?
5. How are you going to ensure that all advertisements and promotional platforms are consistent across the website, social media accounts, and other platforms?

If you carefully consider these questions and develop a comprehensive branding strategy, you can create a strong foundation for your business’s success and effectively communicate its unique value to your target audience.

Follow these 6 Steps to Build your Brand

1. Tap your target market. Know the ins and outs.

Start by determining the size of the market. It can be calculated by dividing sales by market share and multiplying the result by 100.

You can also use the market size calculation formula, which is:
number of target users x purchases expected in each period = market size or volume.
This will give you a better idea of how big your target market could be.
Once you are done with your market size, do your market research.

Before building your brand:

• Search online for your product or service category and study direct or indirect competitors.
• Talk to your target market and ask what brands they currently buy from.
• Check the social media accounts/pages your target audience follows.
• Visit online/physical stores to see how customers browse and buy.
• Research industry trends using publications, social media, and Google Trends.
While researching:
• Note the biggest brands and what they do well or poorly.
• Identify your unique selling proposition (USP)—what you offer that others don’t.
• Observe the common habits of your target audience:
• Platforms they use most
• Language/slang they use
• How they engage with brands
• Understanding your target audience’s habits helps determine the best ways to reach them.

2. Find a strong brand voice and personality, then lock it in.

A clear, authentic brand voice that resonates with your audience truly promotes customer loyalty and brand recognition. Hence, establish a distinct brand voice to make a lasting impression on buyers. It undoubtedly reflects your brand’s unique personality.
Tips to keep in mind
• Ensure the brand voice is consistent across all communications.
• Align your brand’s voice with your company’s mission and values.
• Understand your target audience’s language and preferences.
• Conduct research (search, social media, surveys, etc.) on your audience.
• Create buyer personas based on your typical customers.
• Develop a style guide with brand voice characteristics and writing guidelines.
• Allow some flexibility in tone for different situations and channels.
• Avoid trendy slang or language that may become dated quickly.
• Regularly review and update the brand’s voice to stay current.

3. Go the extra mile to find a suitable business name.

People often don’t invest much time in choosing their business name. They will simply copy the name of a well-known brand with minor modifications. While this might have worked in many cases, the statistics show otherwise. 88 percent of consumers say that authenticity is one of the main factors
when deciding what brands they want to shop from and like to support. You can copy someone’s brand name, but will you be able to create a story line with a unique voice? People’s tendency to commit mistakes when choosing a suitable business name is reflected in their business’s performance. Follow the below given suggestions if you are struggling too.
• It shouldn’t be as easily distinguishable as the name of a competitor’s company.
• It is important that one comes up with a name that people can easily spell and pronounce.
• Make your name web-friendly.
• Be memorable, but not peculiar.
• When choosing a name, you should use one that can be associated with your brand.

4. Don’t just scribble; write a concrete brand story.

86% of consumers prefer an authentic and honest brand personality on social networks. This suggests that having a genuine brand voice and story is essential for building trust and loyalty with customers.

Let’s take an example: KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)
The main focus of Kernel’s brand narrative is placed on the personality of Colonel Harland Sanders, a real man who created his recipe for fried chicken using a combination of 11 herbs and spices.

Presenting Sanders’ story of a successful entrepreneur who went from a small roadside chicken restaurant to the giant KFC franchise gives the brand an authentic and credible image. They mainly focus on tradition, quality, and authenticity while marketing, since these aspects have a strong appeal to potential consumers and create loyalty toward their brands.

5. Develop a style guide for your brand.

A style guide is the ultimate bible for branding since it helps maintain consistency in the communication process and control over the creative platform. Employing strategic branding and creating a strong brand image helps your company keep its distinct identity, thus creating a sense of familiarity for consumers. Have a look at how it is done.
• Define the brand’s mission, values, name meaning, tagline, voice/tone, and target audience personas.
• Specify visual identity elements like logos (primary/secondary versions), colour palettes (with hex codes), approved typography families, photographic styles, and iconography guidelines.
• Provide clear instructions on proper logo usage and examples of acceptable/unacceptable logo treatments.
• Include guidelines for design elements like spacing, alignment, and sizing across print and digital applications.
• Create a user-friendly reference tool with easy access for all creative teams, partners, and vendors.
• Regularly review and update the guide to reflect any brand identity changes over time.

6. A good logo won’t harm you; design it well along with other brand assets.

10 seconds are enough for people to form an opinion about a logo. A good logo is how people identify your business. It increases brand awareness among the crowd. There are numerous factors to consider when designing a logo. Before we go into its technicalities, it’s important for you to understand its value.
Fact: Studies show that a well-designed logo can increase a company’s revenue by up to 23%. This statistic underscores the value of investing time and
resources into creating a memorable and effective logo.
When designing a logo, there are several factors to consider.
• Simplicity: Keeping it simple makes it easier for people to understand. Relative ease is needed. Keep it well-defined so customers can tell that your business exists just by looking at it.
• Versatility: A logo should always be flexible. It must have the capacity to change. Since logos undergo constant updates, a rigid one could potentially cause issues.
• Relevance: Try to be as relevant as you can. Choose the colour or fonts that actually define your company. Nothing should feel disconnected.
• Memorability: The more your logo is catchy, the more it will stay in the customers’ minds. Don’t make it too complicated, as it might get difficult to comprehend and remember.
• Uniqueness: A unique logo sets your brand apart from all the other brands. A thoughtful idea behind it will add that extra flavour. Try thinking outside the box.

Signing Off!

Branding is not rocket science. Keeping a few things in mind can help you climb the success ladder really quickly. As you saw, there are many aspects to it, and following them can be beneficial for both you and your company. People must not forget that branding is an ongoing process; it means solidifying the brand’s identity in the minds of your consumers and everyone directly or indirectly connected to it. It means consistently and hard marketing your business.