branding

 1. Identifying the Audience
Before you can work on developing a brand, you need to think about who the brand is for. Clearly identifying your target audience is an important step in building your brand. However, the reality is that different people respond to different tones, aesthetics, and brand personalities. So, starting with what your audience is looking for will help you design a brand that will engage and connect with them.

One simple way to identify your audience is by creating buyer personas. A buyer persona is a rough profile of the lead you want to sell to. This persona should include basic information such as age, location, income, as well as deeper insights like political views, product usage, and related brands. Over time, as your brand develops and you make more sales, you’ll learn more about your audience.

2. Competitor Research
Conduct research on your competitors to gain a better understanding of how to create a unique position. This helps you find ways to align with your competitors’ strengths while avoiding their weaknesses. You should also analyze other areas of your competitors’ brands, such as their website, pricing methods, and brand voice. Additionally, you can use keyword research tools to identify topics that have not yet been targeted by your competitors. Ultimately, competitor research should help you prioritize your findings, providing you with a clear view of how your company compares to others in the same industry, and help you find more effective ways to differentiate your brand from the competition.

3. Defining Brand Purpose and Positioning
In the third step of branding, the purpose and positioning of the brand are defined. The purpose is the mission statement where you clearly discuss the brand’s intended position. This statement will guide all other branding activities in your business. Therefore, it must align with your business plan and core values. Answering questions such as: Why does your company exist? What problem does your product or service solve? Why should customers buy from you instead of your competitors? will help you create a mission statement.

Keep in mind that the mission statement is for internal use and is not a marketing tool. For example, Nike’s slogan is “Just Do It,” but their mission statement is “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete.”

4. Defining Brand Personality and Voice
Brand personality and voice are key aspects of the brand. Having these characteristics is a great way to demonstrate what makes a business unique. This uniqueness is what attracts your target customers. Your brand voice should remain consistent and reflect across all branding activities. In other words, every time and place a customer interacts with your brand, they should hear your distinctive voice and see your personality. Therefore, you must research what type of personality your target audience is attracted to within your industry. After defining the brand personality, you can create an editing guide. To do this, imagine your brand as a real person and speak as you think they would. Decide how formal or informal you want to be, and even pay attention to word choice. For example, Harley Davidson uses a tough and adventurous tone.

5. Creating the Brand Story
Stories connect people on a personal level. Therefore, using them in marketing is a great way to engage customers. Brand stories usually begin with a character (your customer) and a problem. The character meets someone who offers a solution (your product or service) to their problem.

When creating a brand story, give your customer a face to help audiences connect with your brand. Also, to create a good story, you need to evaluate what your customer wants or needs. Then, identify the practical need. Don’t forget to use emotions. Finally, show your customers why your brand is the solution to their problem. You can also show them the potential negative impact of not choosing your proposed solution.

6. Choosing a Brand Name
You might have already chosen your brand name before these steps. However, at this stage, it’s not uncommon to reconsider. It’s important to choose a name that is memorable and easy to recall. Methods such as creating made-up words, combining two or three words, or modifying the correct form of a word are great ways to create catchy names.

7. Creating a Slogan
Having a strong slogan is highly valuable. The slogan should be short yet descriptive enough to fit across many spaces like your social media bio, website header, email signature, billboards, and more. Being concise, memorable, and consistent with other branding efforts is essential. Another important note is that compared to the brand name, a slogan can more easily evolve. So, as you engage with your target audience, make sure to find the most effective approach and adapt your slogan accordingly.

8. Designing Visual Identity
Another crucial step in branding is designing the visual identity. The logo design is an important aspect of this. The logo is essentially the face of your brand, so make sure to invest in a good one. Logos often come in different visual forms, so you’ll need to choose a color palette, typography, and imagery as the main elements used in your logo. Visual identity design isn’t just about creating the logo, though. Based on the colors, typography, and images chosen for your brand’s visual identity system, you can create other visual materials used in branding and marketing your business.

9. Integrating the Brand into the Business
Once you’ve built the core foundation of your brand, integrate it consistently across your company. Create a style guide to ensure a unified brand voice across all marketing channels. This guide should define how you want your brand to appear as a reference, voice, look, and feel. Your brand’s personality should be evident in every social media post, marketing campaign, website, and more.

10. Rebranding
Finally, while brand consistency and branding are vital for long-term audience engagement, it’s not necessary to continue with ineffective strategies. Sometimes, changing the brand name is the most practical solution for maintaining consumer appeal and attracting new customers.