What exactly does it mean to “Build Your Brand”?
– What do you need to do?
– How can you position yourself as an Authority in your marketplace?
The first on the “ToDo” list is to become aware of who you REALLY are and what it is that is driving you to do what you do. Try to answer the following questions about your brand.
– Is there a way to communicate your excitement and passion about your product or service to your prospective clients?
– What things do you do great? These are the benefits your clients should know about your brand.
– Do you have a compelling story that you can identify with your brand?
– Is there something that makes you / your business different or interesting?
– Does it tie in with what you are doing now?
– Why are you compelled to build your brand around this service or product?
Discovering What Makes Your Brand its Own Story.
Your brand can be tied into what you believe and what you do in your leisure time too. Perhaps you have a magical way of dealing with difficult tasks that other company’s won’t touch.
Other things that may seem disconnected from your personality are things like style and colours. These are very much a part of the branding process. If you are casual and like neon’s that will definitely make an impression. But is it really the impression you want to make?
– Can you describe what you do in a one line elevator pitch? Can you convey your knowledge, helpfulness and excitement with one sentence?
– What unique solutions are you providing for your clients?
Know how your branding will fit in with your demographic. If you are a survivalist but want to sell sides of beef to vegan single mom’s, you probably have a mismatch. You must know where your clients live, how much money they make, their gender and marital status. Gathering demographic intelligence will provide you with a barrage of information. These are all important factors when developing your brand.
Know Your Target Market
Promoting yourself around what your chosen market does is important because it allows you to understand their mindset. This way you can talk about what is important or of interest to them. Find out more about them, their heath, the type of TV they watch, what type of phones and computers they prefer to use. Maybe they aren’t a technical crowd. If not then you need to be innovative when connecting with them online.
The more you know about your audience the more you can learn about what they would identify as an authority. Find out what type of education they have, and how they like to do their shopping. If they buy a lot of their products online that tells you it would be a good idea to have online products available too.
Find out what motivates them, what they are afraid of, and what they really hope to get. Developing your brand around the hopes and dreams of your target market speaks directly to them on an emotional level.
Learning what problems you can solve by knowing what they are looking for can also tell you what you have in common with your audience and help you to deliver solutions in the form of your product or service.
Know your Competitor
Once you know who your target market is you need to know as much as you can about your competitor.
– What is it about them that identifies them as your competitor?
– Can you tell what they offer that no one else does?
– Is there anything truly unique about them?
– What can you do to stand out better / more.
Perhaps you can make an offer that makes theirs look undesirable.
– Can you beat them on price, quality, service?
Since you have identified them as a competitor, are they marketing to your target audience? This is a great way to validate you chose the right market.
– Do they have an obvious weakness that could position your strength?
Research your competitors advertising and marketing presence.
– Where can you find them?
– How do they look?
– Are they promoting something that leaves a void that you could fill? Perhaps they only do big jobs and you will take small ones. Capitalize on what they don’t do that your research has shown your prospective clients would really want.
Branding yourself and your business has much to do with what your clients are going to experience when they are receiving your message. Working so your clients have a happy experience when dealing with you will build an authoritative brand. If people feel good when they buy from you they will be back to buy again.
Having a pretty logo means nothing if you have an ugly message.
