One of the first things entrepreneurs should develop for their business is a functional brand. It’s the representation of what your customers should feel upon seeing your brand, and what expectations they should have from your company. The good news is that there are evergreen and relevant tips that you can use, no matter what industry you’re in. Here are seven universal branding tips that you should utilize. THE BRAND SHOULD BE BASED ON THE AUDIENCE One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an entrepreneur is to base your brand on your preferences. The brand is not for you – you know what the business is about. The brand is meant to communicate ideas to your target market. Therefore, you should base the brand on what works for your intended customers. For example, while podcasts have become more relevant, that doesn’t mean they have a role in your brand or marketing campaign. If your target market doesn’t generally listen to podcasts, you shouldn’t make a podcast. If your market tends to be on the more serious side, your brand should match that attitude. Keep these in mind, and you should drive your brand in the right direction. FOCUS ON CONSISTENCY Consistency is important in any brand-building effort, as one of your goals is to train the consumer in what to expect from your company. When the average person knows what to expect from your brand, you will not only generate better leads – you will also inspire loyalty more easily. The problem you face is ensuring that consistency is applied. As the business grows and develops, more people will have their hands in the pie of your company. Everyone will have ideas on where to take the brand or how it should be presented, and it is up to you and your marketing head to ensure that the brand does not get diluted or confused. If you do not have a brand bible yet, make one and make sure everyone sticks to it. CREATE A PLAN While planning seems obvious, you would be surprised to discover that numerous businesses do not really have a strategy or plan for their brand. They make a logo, they pick colors, and they call it a day. Failure is not guaranteed for those companies; however, they do court it more because they don’t have goals, tactics, or ideas of what they want to represent and inspire in the audience. Find out what you want your brand to do, then figure out the steps needed to accomplish those goals. KEEP YOUR EMPLOYEES IN THE LOOP Many emerging businesses tend to have 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’s 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 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. If you don’t know how to build a brand right, hire a professional. You might have enough know-how on the team to hire a singular person, but it is just as likely you will end up hiring an entire firm. It might be expensive, but your business’s brand is critical enough to demand that expense. GET TO KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE As the brand is primarily aimed at your target market, it’s in your best interest to do the groundwork and research them as thoroughly as possible. You need to know everything about them, from their daily routine to their spending habits, as well as their demographics. No detail is too small, as you never know what can inspire you to target your brand more effectively. However, your research should not end with your audience directly. It should also cover other entities that are targeting them, such as your competitors. How your competition targets your intended 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 rush of development, you may put it in “maintenance mode,” where you only refer to it when planning other aspects of your business. 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. Crafting a brand is not easy, and it never truly ends. It is also something you cannot avoid as an entrepreneur. Do it right, and you’ll be one step closer to a successful company ALL ENTREPRENEURS SHOULD EMPLOY
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