Business Is About More Than Ideas: How To Build A Brand That Resonates In Today’s Crowded Market

by Startacus Admin

Starting your own business involves a lot of admin and decision-making, with the biggest one being the overall premise of your new company.

If you want it to ensure that your new company doesn’t fail within its first year, as many start-ups do, then you need to focus on creating a brand that will resonate with your target market.

New business owners who have launched a new venture in response to the pandemic and the opportunities that it offers, need to focus on branding now more than ever before.

Accountability and brand corporate social responsibility are both crucial in the age of Coronavirus, so emerging businesses need to grow their brand and create a favourable impression from the beginning.

To help, we’ve put together a list of some of the best ways to develop a unique brand and grow it so that your organisation can prosper over the coming months and years.

Understand What A Brand Is And What It Encompasses

It can be difficult to define branding, but broadly speaking, it is the emotions that your company evokes when consumers notice it. Branding means something different to every consumer, as each will have a unique experience with your company. For new businesses, getting your name out there and showcasing your firm’s values is the first step towards building a recognisable brand. As your business grows, you can explore more complex branding strategies to help your company to penetrate new markets and support clients from different demographics.

Check Out What Your Competitors Are Doing

Competitor analysis is essential for any business, so while you’re researching the services and support that they offer, you can also check out their branding, message and design style. You can then explore the ways in which you can incorporate these tactics into your brand. Make sure that you don’t outright copy their approach, as this will lead to ill-feeling in the industry and could confuse potential customers. Instead, use your competitor research to inspire you and inform your branding strategy.

Find Out What Your Audience Wants

When you’re creating a new business and choosing all of the elements that go into its brand, such as logo design, website layout, mission statement and more, it’s easy to get caught up in what you want from the company. However, that might not be exactly what your clients are looking for, so make sure that you undertake audience research. Consider using online tools such as social media to find out what your target audience is looking for from your company so that you can incorporate this into your new brand.

Create Marketing And Design Continuity

One of the most critical factors in any branding strategy is continuity. If your business’s website, marketing content and promotional materials do not look the same and share the same vision and values, then consumers will be confused and won’t understand your message. This is where you can benefit from working with an experienced full-service digital marketing agency such as Mass Appeal to ensure that everything from your website design through to your social media posts are in-line with your business’s vision. An expert team like this can help you to create, define and grow your brand saving you time and allowing you to focus on expanding your new business.

Get Outside Opinions

You might love your new logo idea, but your team members and clients might think otherwise. As such, you should always ask for multiple opinions when making any major branding decision. Alongside the experts on your team, you should also consider hosting a focus group or creating an online poll to see what your potential customers think of your ideas. Always create multiple versions of everything, so that you can find the one that’s right for your business.

Embrace Technology

As we’ve already highlighted, technology can offer you a myriad of opportunities to grow your brand, so embrace it and adapt to the latest developments. For example, if a new social media platform is launched, then you should immediately check it out to see if it is suitable for your business. If you think that your target market will use it regularly, then you should start sharing your brand on it. By being proactive and adapting to the latest technological developments, you’ll be able to grow your brand online and make a lasting impression on your audience.

Learn From Your Mistakes

At the end of the day, every brand makes mistakes. Even some of the world’s biggest and most successful organisations have made serious, and costly, branding mistakes. When you make a branding mistake, it’s important that you use this as a learning opportunity, and use it to inform your future branding decisions. Review everything that happened in the lead up to the mistake, and set in motion new processes and checks that will ensure that nothing similar happens again in the future.

Make It Personal

Consumers are smarter than you might think- they can spot an insincere brand or a blatant sales pitch from a mile away. As such, you need to make sure that your brand embodies your personality and your views. When setting brand values and creating a mission statement, you should think about what you and your team would want from a business in your niche, and then try to embody this in your branding. By being personal and authentic, you’ll show your customers that there are real people behind your business and that they are ready and waiting to provide them with a personal, one-to-one service that they expect but can’t find everywhere.

For budding business owners, branding can seem like a challenge, but by using these tips, you can make it easier and create a coordinated strategy that benefits you and your new company. Best of luck with your start-up venture, and we hope that these tips improve your chances of creating a successful brand that stands the test of time.

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Published on: 1st August 2020