Branding is essential. Integral. Necessary. Foundational. [Insert all other synonyms for important here]. 

Your brand is much deeper than just your logo or the color of your website. It’s how you use those design, advertising, marketing and communication elements to capture the essence of your business and craft its personality. 

Like Jeff Bezos said: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

In short, your brand is your business’ reputation. 

Studies show that customers tend to buy from well-established brands and a strong brand will make it easier to expand your business. 

Strong Brand Starter Pack

Your brand communicates your business value and helps to solidify your place in the industry. And you can’t know your desired position in the industry until you know your environment. 

So to familiarize yourself with your environment, (and clarify where you want to stand within it) I’ve broken it down into 3 categories for you to consider: your audience, your competition, and your business differentiators, or also called USP’s (Unique Selling Points). 

Once you’ve pondered these three areas, you can incorporate your conclusions into the tangible aspects of your branding, such as your logo, color palette, fonts, the language you use, etc. This way, you ensure that the defining aspects of your business are baked into your brand and communicated to your audience at every turn. 

It starts with your audience.

They’re the ones you want to connect with. So you want to make sure you really understand them. Their demographics, background, preferences, needs…

Here’s some basic information you can gather to start building a buyer persona:

• Age, gender, geographic location, income

• Career, goals, identifying traits, causes they care about

• Platforms they use, trends they partake in

You’ll also want to consider the competition in the industry and how your audience perceives them. 

• What need are they fulfilling?

• What’s working for them? What’s not working? 

• What are they all doing the same that you can differentiate on? 

And finally, think about your business. Because as Simon Sinek says,

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

• What’s your why? What is the purpose of the business? 

• What makes you different? Why should they buy from you? What value are you offering that they won’t find elsewhere? Why should your audience care? 

Your branding is your foundation. Now, you market it

It should be conveyed in every aspect of your business – spoken, written, visual, sensory – all through all mediums. On the website, social media, advertisements and packaging. During the customer experience in-store and online. You get the idea, right? The entire customer experience should align to your brand. 

And just like your brand, your marketing strategy should be unique to your audience.

Luckily for you, that’s my specialty 😉 If you’re interested in booking a consultation call with me to uplevel your marketing, shoot me an email!

Otherwise, feel free to browse the blog for marketing tips & tricks by yours truly. More marketing blogs coming soon.