In the marketing world you hear a lot of buzz words around branding, brand image and branding guides. If you’re like most small business owners, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear brand is - your company or product name. Although these identifiers are an important feature of your business and marketing, they are not your brand. So, naturally, the question becomes, “What is a brand and how do I determine what my brand is?” To answer this question, you should ask your customers what comes to mind when they think of your company. If you think of GoPro, you may think of adventure, whereas the thought of Apple products may conjure up words like innovation or trendy. The ultimate test is to see if your customers attribute your company with the same connotations and phrases that you want your brand to represent. If there is a disconnect, then you need to review your brand strategy and what you can do to bring your customers’ views of your company more in line with what you want your brand to embody.
Here are the top three questions you need to consider when establishing your brand.
What do you want your brand to represent? This may be one of the hardest questions to answer because as your company evolves, so too may your answer to this question. You may envision your brand as being the best IT maintenance firm, but in reality, your clients may be drawn to you for the consulting services you provide. Or, you may think your brand is producing the best laptops in the industry, when more specifically you are known for making the highest speed laptops on the market. The key is to really reflect on what value you bring to your customer and the market and use this as the core identity of your brand. As your company grows, you may need to revisit this concept, but ideally your company growth should be around your core brand identity.
Who are you trying to target? Once you’ve established what your “thing” is and what your brand represents, you can better position your company to communicate with your target audience. If you’re producing the highest speed laptops, then working backwards and determining what customer segment would value this can be helpful in creating your target consumer profile. So, for this example, perhaps targeting business owners, students, graphic designers, videographers could be a great strategy to show them how your ultra fast computers could benefit their lives. If you find that your business could “speak to” multiple customer segments - that’s great - but then you need to separate the different segments. Each segment may have specific pain points that your product or service can satisfy and in different ways. But, the key is to figure out your target, get to know them and start to craft a marketing strategy to teach them about your brand first.
Is my brand represented in everything I do? Being consistent with your brand image is essential in having your customers identify with and embrace your brand. For example, if a pet provisions company wants to be branded as a health-conscious pet supplier, then selling only organic or all-natural products to their customers is essential. Likewise, if you’re known for having the most affordable technology products, but you don’t offer payment plans, then this could work against your brand. The key with this is to consider how your brand can be accurately represented in all you do, including with product creation, selling and customer service.
Developing your brand will take careful reflection and analysis on your part. Researching your industry, including your competitors to see where there may be a gap your company can fill, can be an effective way of starting the brand development process.
If you’d like to work with a seasoned professional contact the brand strategists at Snowball Creative Group today. We’d be happy to discuss your business and help you brainstorm proven ways to establish your brand and communicate with your target audience.
