Part 2
Branding Your Business
Your brand says a lot about you. In fact, it says everything about you. Whether you're aware of it or not, your company has a brand and that brand needs to be well defined and very apparent. Your brand needs to be as real as a living breathing person, complete with a distinct voice, recognizable look, and unique quirks.
Developing your brand's personality takes time, but when done properly it can have a huge impact on your customer relationships.
When I start to work with a new client, one the first items on my checklist is to ask you questions to discover your true brand. This process is designed to make my clients think about their brand in a whole new way. Once I've extracted the necessary information, I go to work.
First I go shopping for clothes. I find the perfect set of colors, icons and images to dress your brand up. Then our team uses these visuals on the website, social media and anywhere else people see your brand. Next we teach your brand to talk. Using a consistent tone of voice and dialect lets your audience understand who your brand is. No matter what you're selling and no matter who you're selling it to, you need to be well branded.
The Importance of Strong Branding in Your Marketing Strategy
Branding is important to your marketing strategy because it helps define your business in a way that ordinary marketing doesn't do. In fact, there is a lot of confusion about what marketing is supposed to do. Many business owners feel that, as long as they promote their products and services, that is enough. But they forget that the brand strategy you use is far more important than the marketing strategy. Without a brand strategy, you are only advertising products and services without bringing your brand to the attention of your customers.
The problem with this thinking is that direct marketing of goods and services does little to nothing regarding increasing your brand presence or prominence in the digital environment. But, to succeed, you must develop more than a marketing strategy. You must build a brand strategy. To explore the idea of brand-building, first, let's look back in the past and see how far we've come.
Words from a Prophet
In 1995, Steve Jobs predicted that "every business will be online by 2005." He was right for the most part. Every business that cares about continuing its success, that is, got online by the early part of 2003 and many joined shortly after that. Now, the only type of business that is not online is a business whose transactions would not make sense online such as a restaurant or lawn mowing service. Anything that is delivered in the physical world is still a brick-and-mortar "real-world only" type of business. Everything else is online, or at least it should be.
Building Your Brand
That being said, why do some online businesses fail and others succeed? What is it that successful online businesses have learned to do well that others haven't? The answer is Branding. Daymond John, successful millionaire entrepreneur and CEO of FUBU and co-star of ABC's "Shark Tank," focuses his website on brand building. He is a brand expert and makes suggestions to entrepreneurs as to what they can do to improve their brand perception. In his book, The Brand Within, he drives the point home about how important it is to be unique when you are developing a business and to think of your business as more than a company and to build a brand instead.
A New Way of Thinking
Going online changed the whole method of operation that business owners had to achieve to find success with their target audience. They had to adjust to the new type of digital advertising that varied from traditional print, TV, or radio ads. While they are similar, digital media is produced using different equipment and conversion tools that make it ready for the online environment.
Business owners realized that they needed digital content that would work in the online digital environment. But some forgot a fundamental principle that is essential to their success: Advertising is not the same as marketing.
What is Advertising?
Advertising is taking a concept and creating creative content or ads that will persuade others to buy the product or service. Of course, this is one of the goals of every online business owner. You have to make sales to survive. But what many have forgotten is the fact that advertising is just an activity. It is a process of creating a commercial that you hope will catch the attention of the desired audience.
Marketing and brand building are completely different.
What is Marketing?
When it comes to marketing, we are crossing over into a more diverse concept. Marketing involves an overall approach that allows you to promote your business. Yes, it can be used to market specific aspects and ads can be included in this process. But it's important to understand that marketing is about more than advertising. It's about building your business perception, not just your business so that you will build a long-term connection with potential customers.
What is a Good Brand Strategy?
Building a brand takes time. The process of building your brand should be inherent in everything you do including your marketing and advertising activities. You should include your brand assets in all of your content that you market to the world. The goal of building your brand is to become so prevalent in the minds of customers that your brand is the first thing they think of when they are in need of the types of products and services you provide.
Integrate Your Strategies: A Hybrid Approach to Brand Development
We all know how important online marketing is. But don't forget that there are also many "real-world" techniques that still work. One of these is sending physical mailers such as postcards and flyers to potential customers. This technique is still highly effective and, when combined with online digital assets, you can create an entire strategy that works in both the real world and the online environment.
Don't Leave Your Offline Customers Behind
One idea on how to implement this hybrid strategy is to include a coupon or redemption code on a real world flyer that is mailed to people in their mailboxes. Then have your URL to your website or sales page on the postcard where people can go to redeem the code. This type of approach helps to combine the best of both worlds and also appeal to people who may not be online but who still appreciate your brand.
Don't Forget Mobile Users
When discussing any strategy involving an online brand marketing plan, it's important to remember your mobile users. It was predicted that by the end of the year alone (2018), there will be around 4.77 mobile users worldwide looking for content and shopping opportunities. (Statista)
Forgetting about this growing number of people is like leaving money on the table. Also, Google wants business owners to include the mobile audience in your marketing strategies and to make your content user-friendly to mobile users. To see if your website is up to par with Google's latest standards, use the mobile-friendly tool.
Developing a Brand Strategy
When it comes to developing a brand strategy for your brand, what should you do to make sure you are reaching the people you need to reach in the best way? How can you develop your brand while also focuses on your marketing? The truth is, the best brand strategy works hand-in-hand with your marketing plan so that everything you do helps build your brand marketing plan while also marketing your products. Just remember not to market without considering your brand. That's what it's all about.
Elements of Good Brand Development
When you are working on promoting your brand, you should focus on the elements of brand development. Many of these are digital assets that can be created by you or by hiring a professional design company. Some of the most important assets are listed below:
- Business logo- Your business logo is one of the most important assets that you have to help promote your brand. Remember that your logo will be everywhere, including in the offline and online environments. Developing a good professional logo for your brand is one of the essential things that you can do to secure your spot as an online business. Without a great logo, you cannot stand out from your competition or create a unique personality for your brand, both of which are essential for building your brand.
- Website- Like your logo, your website should stand out and help you define yourself in a growing world of digital assets and online businesses. There are over 1 billion websites online today, many of these in your niche area. So you have to find a way to stand out. If your site is well-done, professional, and user-friendly, people will positively respond to your brand, and they will be more likely to consider doing business with you. So remember good brand development results in more sales and customers.
- Media assets- Having strong media assets such as professionally done videos, podcasts, infographics, and other digital assets will go a long way toward helping you make an impact with your target audience.
- Social media presence- Having a strong social media presence is also important to building your brand. Part of...
