Building a brand can be a long and tedious process, like Lifeboat (rebranded after ten years!) – here's how to do it right.
Right now, I want you to think of the most famous companies that come to mind. Chances are, there's at least one on the following:
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Nike
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Microsoft
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Apple
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Coca Cola
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Pepsi
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McDonald's
All of these companies have very successful branding campaigns; they know their target market, how to interact with this audience, but most importantly, are consistent with their branding. If the Nike tick suddenly changed, we too wouldn't know who Nike is.
Think of branding as a way of identifying a business or individual, what is the businesses name, logo, slogan, color theme, and style? Branding should be as unique as possible, you want someone to see your logo or hear your name and instantly know what it is, what you provide, and how they can get their hands on your product or service.
This article will discuss how to build a brand from the bottom up, from researching your target audience to being consistent with your branding, here is what you need to know.
Research your target audience
Before setting up any business, website, or even a personal brand, it's essential to research your target audience. This lets you first see if there's a demand for the service you're providing, and second, it will enable you to see what your audience likes and dislikes, understanding what content and/or product works best to resonate with them.
Likewise, carrying out basic research is essential for setting your brand theme. Perhaps if your audience is generally younger, you may wish to go with a modern and interactive look/design, but if your audience is a little broader or older, then going for a more inclusive and traditional feel is likely better.
There are many ways to carry out this research; however, we recommend the following as a basic starting point:
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Researching your competitors
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Use a keyword tool to analyze the potential audience size
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Post/view forums to interact directly with your target audience – ask their opinion, what they want, and what they think is missing from their niche
Out of these points, one of the most important is most certainly researching your competitors. You want to look for the already existing big brands, the Nike's and McDonald's of your niche or industry.
Conducting this research will allow you a feel of how big a market you can tap into, although some markets may look both fierce and competitive, often there are small gaps which can be filled – this is where you are likely to fit in.
A great way to find these gaps is to use a keyword tool such as Ahrefs. While this is more useful for finding keywords to target in blogs, it will also allow you to see what your target market is searching for, what they are in need of, and how many people are searching for this.
Finally, posting in forums/viewing other posts is a great way to find our directly what those in your target market are missing from their niche. This allows you to plug the gaps, solving real-world problems, providing knowledge, or creating a product to satisfy customers already in-need.
Choosing a business/website name
Choosing a business/website name is difficult, but often many people overthink this. You want your name to preferably be short, sweet, and simple. This allows customers to easily remember this, returning to your business/product when they next need it.
For some, choosing their name is as simple as their real name, whereas, for others, it makes more sense to develop an entirely new name and concept e.g., Nike.
Whatever you choose to go with, it needs to be brandable, allowing customers to identify your business while providing scaling options in the future.
Did you know: the company Nike used to be called Blue Ribbon Sports?
Acquiring a logo
Once you've chosen your business name, it's now time to acquire a logo. While you may be tempted to make this yourself or hire someone to do it for as little as $5, remember this is the face of your business – often the first thing a new customer will see.
Therefore, we highly encourage you to fork out a little, investing in mid-top rated designer to do an excellent job of it – allowing it to stand the test of time.
Be consistent with your branding
No matter how good your business or brand, if you're not consistent with your branding, your customer will often end up confused, wondering if they've landed on the right site, who their most recent email is from, or why they liked a post on Instagram twelve weeks back.
At Lifeboat, we like to say that branding is storytelling. The more we allow the customer to buy into the story, the more likely they are to make a purchase or to follow-up with you or your business.
Allowing more customers to buy into your story inevitably leads to more sales and conversions, landing new clients, and producing more revenue.
What's not to love?
A great first step to immersing each customer into your story is through consistent branding. Whether you're sending an email, posting a parcel, sending a tweet, or running a competition to win an Audi RS6, you must put the brand in front of the customer at all times.
Take care of the brand, and your brand will take care of you.
To conclude
Building a brand is like writing a story, you want your target audience to buy into this story to continue coming back to your business and/or service.
When it comes to building a brand from scratch, we recommend researching your target audience, choosing a short, sweet, and simple name, acquiring a high-quality logo, and, most importantly to remain consistent with your branding.
If all this sounds a little too difficult, we here at Lifeboat Advertising can help you out. Having worked with a variety of popular clients, including Melanie Meriney, Boston Motor Coach, Studio Five Fitness, rest assured you're in good hands.
To get in touch or to receive a free no-obligation quote, please click here.
Source/Repost=>
https://lifeboat.dev/blog/how-to-build-a-brand-from-the-bottom-up ** Lifeboat | Advertising Agency ** https://www.lifeboat.dev
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