Millennium Magazine_8th Ed

UNIVERSAL BRANDING TIPS FOR ENTREPRENEURS KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES IN THE LOOP Startups tend to have a flat structure for two reasons. First, there are not enough people to justify a traditional company hierarchy. Second, a flat structure works better when people end up fulfilling multiple roles, due to a lack of personnel. The latter reason is why you need to keep people in the loop – everyone needs to know what is going on, as you never know who will need to handle a marketing campaign or customer. If they do not know what your brand is trying to establish, they may inadvertently ruin all your effort in a single poorly considered advertisement. CONSIDER HIRING A BRAND SPECIALIST If no one in your team has the right know-how to craft a winning brand, you may have to hire a professional to help you accomplish that goal. Brands are not something you can do or adjust on the fly. You cannot build a brand while simultaneously learning how to do so. What you build will be flawed and, more importantly, difficult to change once it is out there. Any little shift in your color scheme or tone can drastically impact what customers think about when they see your company and can cause confusion if they see the old and new versions of your brand in the wrong order. GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE As the brand is primarily targeted towards your target market, it is in your best interest to do the groundwork and research them as thoroughly as possible. No detail is too small, as you never know what can inspire you to target your brand more effectively. You should also cover other entities that are targeting them, such as your competitors. How your competition targets your target market will also inform your decisions and make you better at building an effective brand. NEVER STOP IMPROVING THE BRAND A brand is not something you fire and forget. After the initial rushof development, youmay put it on “maintenance mode,” where you only refer to it when planning other aspects of your startup. However, the brand itself should never truly be stagnant. Your target market will change and shift, and so must your brand to match them. Keep track of your market. Every now and then, compare how it is changing to your current brand. If your brand still lines up, then great – you have nothing to do. However, if you find that you may no longer elicit the same emotions from your customers, it might be time for a bit of a tweak, or even an overhaul.