Business branding has changed a lot over the last few decades. In the past, it was all about creating logos and slogans like Nike’s “Just do it” or Coca-Cola’s “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.” Today, branding is more about how you make customers feel when they interact with your company.
Your brand identity is the personality that your business portrays to your customers. Your logo, slogan, color scheme, and other parts of your brand identity are all important to make sure that your business stands out from your competitors. So how does a company create and promote a winning brand? Wirefreesoft Web Design explains some helpful strategies below.
Why is Branding Important?
According to Dazed Media’s A Future World Report, “46% of Gen Z feels connected to brands that are sustainable and have strong ethics, 21% care about brands being clear about their intentions, and 17% say they seek out brands that have a clear point of view.” Letting your target audience know you care about what they care about can make your business stand out from others in ways that can make a big difference in your presence in the marketplace.
How Does Your Audience See Your Brand?
It doesn’t matter if you think your brand has the potential to be the next big thing, like Amazon or Google. It’s more important how your target market feels about your brand. To stand out, take time to learn what makes your business different from similar businesses. Ask yourself: what does my target customer want that they’re not getting from other companies who do or sell the same thing?
You can get feedback from consumers on your social media sites to learn what your target demographic wants from your company. With some targeted questions, you may be able to land on a message that can help you create your brand. BuzzSumo lets you view social media shares of your business’s online content and even identify specific users who have shared your content.
If you’d like to have a better understanding of some business fundamentals, like branding, marketing, data analytics, and target markets, consider going back to school. You can learn a lot by earning a business bachelor’s degree, and you can tailor your program to meet your needs. Marketing, Communications, and Data Analytics are great possibilities. Plus, there are many accredited programs that you can complete online in your own time.
Create Your Unique Brand
As a business owner, defining your business may come naturally to you. It’s literally what you think about all day, every day. But coming up with your own brand is another thing altogether. Branding and logo designing requires very specific skill sets, thorough knowledge of specialized software necessary to create them, and an eye for how to execute them well.
If you’re not able to afford to hire professional help with your brand and design right now, there are tools that can help you DIY it. You need to start with a great logo. If you can only afford to have one thing professionally done, it should be your logo. But there are also free online tools that help you create your own. Choose something simple, different, and memorable that preferably relates to your business in some way.
Start Promoting Yourself
As you move into marketing, make sure that every decision you make is guided by your brand. You’ll want to get your business talked about on social media by creating shareable content, like a clever meme. Memes are so common that it’s nearly impossible to go a whole day without seeing one. People love memes because they put into words the way they feel about things and get them to think about things in a new and easy-to-capture way. Just make sure that whatever you create has a purpose and promotes your brand.
Social media generates hype, but in most cases you want it to drive people to your website, especially if you are focused on e-commerce. So make sure that your social media and website work together in branding, purpose, and content. Click here to learn about search engine optimization (SEO) as that will increase organic traffic to your site. You’ll want to use SEO strategies on all of your digital content marketing. You can also work with a web designer from Wirefreesoft Web Design to help ensure that your website is attractive, functional, and optimized.
Don’t neglect the old fashioned boots on the ground style of marketing either. Networking can still get you some of the best connections, so regularly attend business luncheons and mixers. But always have a great business card on hand to distribute to people you meet. Everyone is a potential customer, vendor, investor, or promoter. Use a free online tool to select a business card design template that is on brand. Add your logo, make sure your colors and font are on point, and order enough cards to pass out without reservation.
Conclude
Understanding just what a brand is and how your company can identify itself with branding is the key to success for any business. Though hiring a professional for something that is important to your business, like website developers and marketing agencies, is a smart business expense, it’s possible to get your branding noticed with a memorable logo, and even a talked about and shared meme. Your brand is your business’s personality, vision, and voice, so make sure you choose one to be proud of.