How to brand your business
How to brand your business in 7 (not-so-easy-but-kind-of-simple) steps.
I’m gonna let you in on a secret. Well, really not a secret. There is really no mystery to it. Just a little work on your part to uncover some information that will help you tell your brand’s story.
Your brand is a bit like a personality—it’s got values and ideas and it does stuff. If you don’t define these things, a brand will be empty and hollow and even when it shows up, people will ignore it. If you work through these steps, you’ll have a solid brand that supports and represents your product or service. This process is most effective when you involve all of the decision-makers. It’s no good to uncover all of these answers and have someone come in at the end with different ideas and veto power—you will be derailed.
Sometimes it helps to work with an outside team to uncover these things about your brand (we do that), but either way if you go through these steps, you’ll have a strong brand that you can be proud of.
So, without further ado, and no gatekeeping (we’re sharers), here is what you need to do.
1. Identify what you do better than anyone else in your market space.
In order to do this, you’ll have to answer a few questions about yourself and your business. Things like: What makes your goods/services special? Why do current customers come to you? What do your customers say they like about you? This is going to help you talk about what you do in a succinct way. Whether it’s in that elevator everyone’s always talking about, or to a new client who walks in off the street or visits your website.
2. Figure out what your brand’s values are.
What drives your team to do what they do? Why do you get out of bed and go to work every day? What ideals guide you and your team when you make decisions? You’ve got to be honest here. Sometimes core values lists read like a word cloud from an inspirational poster (hang in there). It’s ok if your values are aspirational, but these ideals need to be things you actually care about and your company (brand) actually embodies. Feel free to peek at other brand values of companies you admire and think about why you admire them. It might help you to refine yours.
3. who is your customer—really?
Dig down deep on this one. Ask yourself what does their space look like, smell like, feel like. Do they answer to someone else or will they make the purchase decision? Do they need your help convincing a boss to buy your services? How do they want to feel when they buy your product? How do they want to feel when they visit your website? There are so many questions. This is an important step and all the questions are about someone else. Take your time with it. Think about your best customers. Think about the customer you want to acquire. Are they the same? Where do they overlap? Have fun describing your customer and do it in detail. It’s the only way you’ll know how to talk to them.
4. Figure out what your brand’s personality is.
This one can be fun. Who are you? Are you playful? Serious? Instructive? The answer to this question depends on what your customer needs from you and what you are selling. These will need to match. Is it a serious product? A fun one? An important luxury? How will you represent yourself: Are you a trustworthy guide? Are you a fun aunt with lots of knowledge? From here you’re going to develop your tone of voice which is how your brand talks and shows up online and in the world.
5. Write your mission statement.
What you do, who you do it for, and how you do it. This is going to tell your customers what you do, what you want to do, how you can help them. Your mission statement also keeps your team engaged with why they are coming to work every day. Professional help can be a game changer for this step, but if you go it alone, search the interwebs for some “outstanding mission statements” and you’ll be inspired to create something that represents your company.
6. Develop your visual branding.
Review all the work you’ve just done and start to pick out color palettes and images that represent your company. Working with a graphics professional is a wise choice and a good investment at this stage, but thinking through how you want to be represented will help them create your visual brand package and leave you with something you are proud to share. If you don’t have the budget for that, a visit to Canva isn’t a bad idea. There is a lot of inspiration and some ready-made logos on that site, but there are copyright considerations you should research before using a ready-made logo.
7. Be consistent.
Now that you’ve done all the work to identify your brand’s personality, your customer, your tone of voice, and your visual branding, be sure your create a seamless representation across all the media where your brand exists. Get the information to your webmaster, your social media people, and use it any time your brand puts out any information to the public or internally. Revisit it any time you create something new that represents your brand.
And there you have it—Seven simple steps to build a brand from scratch or freshen one up. They take commitment and time, but you will find it’s worth it. If you don’t want to go it alone, we can help you with this process, walk you through it and help you develop a website and tell your brand story.