What Is a Brand, Anyway? A brand is a company’s identity. It’s how customers perceive the business, and it differentiates the company from its competitors. A strong brand can build customer loyalty and increase profits.

Everything that represents your company should be consistent and accurately reflect your brand. This includes your website design, logo, brand colors, and business cards, as well as your tone of voice, company mission, values, and more.

Anything that affects your customers’ opinion of your company is part of your branding. For example, Apple’s sleek design and user-friendly products.

What is it about Apple products that customers are willing to wait in line for hours for?

It’s your brand.

1. Figure out why your company exists.

What is the purpose behind your brand?

And so should you.

It’s what your business is all about.

When creating a brand, there are four key questions to ask yourself: 

Your brand’s purpose is why it exists. Your answer will shape your mission statement, your values, your tone of voice, and more.

Research shows that 50% of customers now base their purchasing decisions on companies’ values.

Find what makes your brand unique and emphasize those qualities to set it apart from others.

The “Golden Circle” is a theory that helps identify the purpose of something.

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The 3 Parts of The Golden Circle

What: The products and services you provide. How: The things that make you unique. Why: The reasons you are passionate about what you do.

Some people think that personalizing your brand is a waste of time, but I disagree with them. It inspires, especially if you’re just starting out.

The reason why the talk is so popular is that it is interesting and provides useful information.

People aren’t interested in what you do; they’re more interested in why you do it.

Your goal is not to make a sale with every person that contacts you.

The best way to do business is with people who share your beliefs. This creates a strong foundation for a mutually beneficial relationship.

2. Research competitor brands in your industry.

Don’t copy what big brands are already doing.

But, you should understand what they do best (or where they fall short).

The goal is to create a brand that stands out from the competition. Convince customers that your brand is the better choice compared to others!

It’s important to think about how to make your brand stand out from the competition.

Study how your competitors or benchmark brands have gone about their brand building.

A brand’s name should be easily recognizable and remembered by consumers for it to have any real impact.

Creating a brand competitor research spreadsheet

To create your own brand, you need to research your competition. Start by creating a spreadsheet of your competitors, and compare and contrast what they offer.

Google Sheets, Excel, or a notebook can be used for tracking your expenses.

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Competitive analysis (or market analysis), is one of the primary steps in uncovering and solidifying your brand identity.

3. Determine your brand’s target audience.

The first step in brand building is to determine your target audience.

You’re not going to be able to be the best at every single aspect of your business.

Correct.

When trying to build up your brand, it’s important to know who your audience is. Tailoring your mission and message to their unique needs will help you reach them.

The key is to be specific when determining the detailed behaviors and lifestyles of your consumers. This way, you can better tailor your mission and message to meet their needs.

Targeting a specific niche means narrowing your focus to a very specific group.

As you build your brand, you’ll realize that one key advantage is targeting a specific audience. By doing so, you can ensure that you’re communicating your message clearly to the right people.

This will help ensure that your brand message is communicated clearly to your target audience.

First, get a clear idea of who your consumers are. Then, create a brand identity that will appeal to them and make them feel connected to your company.

Your Brand Buyer Persona

To get an even deeper understanding of your brand’s buyer persona, consider these key details:

• Ethnicity
• Family Status
• Work Status
• Hobbies
• Interests
• Values
• Motivations

As you develop your brand, it’s important to keep your target customer in mind. What motivates them? What are their goals? What pain points do they have that your product or service can help with? What fears do they have? What desires do they have? Who are their influencers? What other brands do they like? Keep all of these factors in mind as you develop your brand identity and messaging.

Identifying your target audience is a crucial step in brand building. Knowing who you want to reach with your content, ads, and emails will help you create a more effective marketing strategy and improve your overall branding efforts.

As a business owner, it’s important to understand who your ideal customer is. By understanding your target audience, you can create marketing and branding strategies that will appeal to them. This will help you build a successful digital brand.

4. Brand Vision: Stop Drifting and Start Driving Growth!

Have you given any thought to what your business is most passionate about? In other words, you’ll need to craft a clear vision of what your organization is all about.

This is what motivates you; the reason you work hard every day.

Your vision statement is a description of what your company hopes to achieve in the future.

Your brand vision is a future-focused statement that outlines what you hope to achieve as a brand. It should be aspirational and something that your team can rally behind as you work to make it a reality.

Imagine where you’d like to see your business 10 years from now. What sort of an impact would you like it to have?

Your mission statement should be an everyday declaration of your dedication to achieving your vision. It should provide guidance for your branding strategies.

Your logo, slogan, and tone of voice should all reflect your mission statement and company values.

Your company’s mission and values should be reflected throughout your brand. From your logo design to your slogan, everything should represent your company’s values and goals. The “Golden Circle” (Step 1) can help guide this process.

Brand Building Examples: Nike

Everyone knows the “Just Do It” slogan, but do you know what their official mission is?

“To inspire and innovate every athlete on the planet”

If you have a body and can move, you’re an (insert sport here). *If you have a body, you’re an (Insert Sport Here)

By adding the tagline, “If you have a body, you are an athlete”, their target market is broadened.

The company has become so successful, that they are able to sell to every person that wants their product.

When building your brand, focus on your target audience. Remember, you don’t have to appeal to everyone.

Over time, your customer loyalty can grow to the point where it expands your customer base.

Before writing your Vision or Brand Mission Statement, make sure you really nailed down who your consumers are.

5. Outline the key qualities & benefits your brand offers.

Some brands will always have more money and resources than others, which allows them to have more control over their industry.

You alone own your products, services, and benefits.

Creating a brand that is unforgettable requires digging deep to find out what you bring to the table, and nobody else does.

What specifically makes your company branding unique and what are the benefits to customers?

Assuming you know exactly who your target audience is, give them a reason to choose your brand over another. Our brand offers quality products that are backed by a satisfaction guarantee. We also offer fast and friendly customer service.

When creating your marketing materials, it’s important to keep in mind what value your product or services offer to consumers. This is not simply a list of features, but rather a consideration of how you improve consumers’ lives through the outcomes or results you provide.

Brand Building Example: Apple

Apple has a clean design and ease of use, but they’re not just another tech company.

Apple’s products are designed to be used right out of the box. Their unique packaging and announcement events remind customers of this fact.

Apple’s old slogan was “Think Different”.

This belief still persists, even today.

6. Form your unique brand voice.

What you say and how you say it is largely determined by the company you work for, the people you’re talking to, and the marketplace you operate in.

It’s how you communicate with your customers, and how they respond to you.

A business’ “brand” is its voice.

A brand voice is the personality of a company as expressed through the tone, style, and diction used in its communications. It encompasses everything from the language used in advertising and marketing materials to the way customer service representatives interact with customers. A strong brand voice can help a company stand out in a crowded marketplace, build trust with customers, and create an emotional connection with its audience.

When creating your brand’s voice, you can use many descriptive words to help differentiate it from competitors.

When you’re choosing your brand’s voice, you want to make sure it’s one that makes sense to your target customers and resonates with them.

This is extremely important when posting blog content or social media updates. Consistency in your voice and tone helps build brand recognition across multiple platforms.

A community of followers, readers, or subscribers will come to expect a certain brand voice and brand personality when they consume your content. This is why it’s important to maintain a consistent voice across all channels. By doing so, you will create a recognizable brand that people can trust.

7. Let your brand personality shine.

Your customers don’t want a cookie-cutter company. They want a company that’s different from the rest.

What they’re really looking for is an experience that feels like it was made just for them. Something that feels personal and genuine, not some cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all solution.

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If you want to brand your business in a unique way, make sure your personality shines through in every aspect of the process. Be consistent with this brand personality across all points of contact for the best results.

Be consistent with your brand’s personality across all touchpoints for the best results.

It’s as simple as:

Your brand personality should shine through in everything you do. From the way you communicate with your customers to the stories you tell, let your unique voice come through. Share behind-the-scenes content, real experiences, and describe your products and services in a way that is true to your brand. By staying true to yourself, you’ll create a strong connection with your customers that will last.

8. Build a brand story and messaging.

When creating a brand, be sure to clearly communicate who you are to your customers.

Use the same tone, language, and style for all of your outbound phone calls.

Your message should be consistent with your branding. It should be clear and concise.

This part of your branding process goes further than just a logo and slogan. It defines:

This is the part of the brand development process where you really get to define who you are as a company. You’ll want to consider what you offer and why people should care. This is your chance to really tell your story and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

A brand story is an opportunity to emotionally connect with your consumer on a more relatable and human-level.

This means that your language should be easily understood by your target audience, but also emotionally resonate with them.

Keep it simple.

The most important part of creating a brand story is to address why your product or service is important to your customers. This will create a deeper connection and a lasting relationship with your consumers.

9. Create a brand logo & tagline.

Visuals are probably one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about branding. We haven’t discussed them yet, but don’t worry, we’ll cover them soon!

If you need help with creative execution, this may be the step where you need it.

The most exciting (and arguably the most important) part of creating a brand for your company is designing a logo and a tagline.

This logo will represent your company and everything it does. It will be seen as your representation, what you stand for, and what you promise.

Create something great that will help reinforce the visual identity of your business. This will require time and money, but it will be worth it in the long run.

If you want your business to have a strong and recognizable brand, then you need to invest in a professional logo and identity design. An experienced designer or branding agency can help create a unique and timeless mark for your business that will make it stand out from the competition.

Their expertise in logo design ensures that you get a truly unique and enduring logo.

A graphic designer can create a set of guidelines that outline how your brand colors, logos, and fonts are used.

A solid branding guide should include these things:

A clear, cohesive branding guide will ensure that all elements of your visual and written identity are consistently represented. This consistency will be easy to recognize by your audience and will create a strong, memorable brand image.

10. Integrate your brand into every aspect of your business.

The process of brand building is never-ending.

Make sure all customer communication, whether visual, auditory or written, is consistent and represents your brand.

Let me elaborate.

As soon as a client or customer walks into your office or store, they should be able to see your brand’s image on display. This includes both the environment and personal interactions. Having a strong brand presence will help create a lasting impression.

Your logo is your brand’s calling card. It should appear everywhere–from your letterhead to your product, to your ads.

On all digital platforms, it is important that your branding is consistent. You can do this by using your brand identity guide to be consistent with the colors, logo, font, and photos you use. Having a uniform brand across your different channels will make your company more recognized and trusted.

Your brand’s website should be an extension of who you are and what you stand for. Incorporate your personality and voice into the content and design of your website, and you’ll have a site that not only informs but engages and entertains visitors.

Your profile pages on social media networks are like your digital business card – make sure they’re branded accordingly! Use your chosen voice for engagement, and make sure the visuals reflect your brand.

Don’t forget that video content needs to be executed with your brand’s unique voice and personality across all platforms, including YouTube, Facebook Video, Facebook Live, Snapchat, and Instagram Stories.

When recording a podcast, be sure to stick to a consistent theme that aligns with your branding, values, and tone of voice.​​​​​​​

Conclusion

If you’re looking to know how to create a brand, then following the three parts of The Golden Circle is a great place to start. By discovering the purpose behind your brand, outlining the key qualities and benefits it offers, and creating buyer personas, you can easily create a strong and recognizable brand. So what are you waiting for? Get started today!