How to successfully define your brand?
When it comes to branding, there is no limit on the amount of creativity a business must devote to make its brand stand apart from the competition. As Maya Angelou said “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have”. Moreover, when you create, define and position your brand, you need to also make sure it satisfies consumers’ needs and wants. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself when starting the branding journey. Questions that will smoothen the path in finding the best brand mix.
Who and what are you as a brand?
To answer this question, you need to think about the attributes that characterize your brand the most and what makes your brand unique. For example, if you own a restaurant, you need to make sure you include your brand in the right category. Only by searching the word “restaurant” on Google, you’ll see that there are so many options offered to consumers such as Fast-Casual, Fast-Food, Mediterranean, Vegan, Fusion, Upscale, American, etc. In which category can you include your products, and most of all, what are the benefits that your brand is offering? Is it healthy, organic, homemade, chef’s signature, fast, cooked, raw? In the end, it’s all about identifying what makes your brand original and the one thing that represents you the most.
Who are your customers and how can you build a relationship with them?
Finding the right target audience has always been a challenge for small businesses that have a reduced budget and fewer resources. However, there are some basic indicators that you can verify online, to see if your business is targeting the right consumers. The good news is that the indicators are available to anyone for free. Platforms like Census or Claritas are a good place to begin your research. You can search for information by state, district, county, and even zip code. Check the information available online and try to understand more about your target audience. How many potential customers are living or working in your business radius? Is there any indicator that they might like your products or services? Can they afford your product or services? If they can’t afford it that means you are not targeting the right area of consumers. There are no bad or good businesses, only bad or good business decisions.
Furthermore, learn how you can build a relationship with your customers. Learn about their hobbies, preferences, interests and go-to places. These are all good indicators about what your audience cares most deeply. To understand them is the easiest way to activate the brand loyalty. It will also save you lots of advertising dollars if you do the right thing from the beginning. To learn more about developing an effective marketing communication check my latest blog post about this particular topic.