Every profitable business owes a lot to good branding. If you’re going to search online or speak with other businessmen, they would generally tell you practice consistency in your marketing efforts. What if you haven’t started the business yet? What if you’re branding from scratch?

Starting a brand is daunting, but it can be accomplished even by inexperienced individuals. At some point (if your business grows bigger), you will have to employ specialised professionals to handle the branding strategy. These can be an external branding agency or an in-house marketing team).

However, it only takes some research to establish the identity of your brand and an in-depth understanding of your target market.  

1. Identify Your Target Market

Unfortunately, you can’t hit all markets with one strategy. This is because different groups of people have different needs and preferences. Think about it: everyone needs clothes, but why are some stores more colourful and others are minimalistic?

Similarly, your products must carry a distinctive image that speaks of your brand’s core identity and values. This unique image will attract a specific demographic.

If you try to target a wider demographic, your brand might feel less relevant. Keep in mind that consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand to which they can relate. This part will be discussed later in this article.

Rapid Biz Business Analyst, Oliver Brown said, “It is still possible to cater to a wider market. Still, it is smarter to put your efforts on one key demographic at a time. Once you’ve established imagery, you can expand to other demographics. Take time to study your target demographic. Determine the market’s gender, age, needs, wants, hobbies, etc. Trust me, every detail will be instrumental in the success of your brand.”

2. Study Your Competitors. 

Identify your established competitors and study their strategy. But never copy their strategy because it could lead to a legal complication, if not it will only shoot down your brand. Instead, use it as an inspiration or a guide.

• What colours do they use?
• How do you feel when you look at their logo?
• How do they talk to their customers?
• What are their tag lines?
• What do their shops look like?

3. Determine What’s Make You Unique

Now that you know what other brands are like, its time to understand how to make your brand stand out from the crowd. The differentiator can be drawn the business plan itself. For example: If you’re selling clothes made of 100% cotton,  you could make it the selling point of your products. Or fill in what’s lacking in the market. Are most competitors using conservative strategies? Consider a more radical route. Are they cheaper? Go for a luxurious experience.

Your brand should come into the mind of customers if they want a specific experience.

Now that you know what other brands are like, its time to understand how to make your brand stand out from the crowd. The differentiator can be drawn the business plan itself. For example: If you’re selling clothes made of 100% cotton,  you could make it the selling point of your products. Or fill in what’s lacking in the market. Are most competitors using conservative strategies? Consider a more radical route. Are they cheaper? Go for a luxurious experience.

Your brand should come into the mind of customers if they want a specific experience.

4. Give Your Brand a Persona.

After identifying your target market and unique qualities and evaluating competition, it is now time to brainstorm on your brand’s persona.

So if your business were a person, is it a male or a female? Young or a bit old? Serious or adventurous? How does he/she talk? What’s his/her favourite colour? Does he/she prefer to spend weekends on 5-star hotels or camping during weekends?

Customers should be able to relate to your brand, like a friend. This way it’ll be easier to invite them to your store.

5. Apply the Brand Personality In Your Marketing Effots. 

Convert the personality traits of your brand to more realistic representations. For example, Your target market is men ages 35-45 who are in the corporate field. Solid colours such as black, navy blue, and white are the standard options because they “feel” serious and strong, qualities that are important in the corporate world.

The voice that you will use in tag lines, blogs, press releases, website content, and advertising materials must also reflect the brand personality. Think of how your brand can gain the trust and loyalty of customers using its unique traits.

It’s going to be helpful if you can associate your brand with an actual person. Even the models of today’s successful brands reflect on the personality of the products they endorse. 

5. Hire a Professional Creative Team 

After creating your brand’s persona and identifying the target market, and major selling points, it’s time to transform your vision into flesh. These days, having a website is a huge advantage, especially now that more people purchasing online. From March to August, 8.1 million Australian households made online purchases.

Unless you’re an experienced web designer, it is best to enlist an authority in the field. You may outsource the job to a reputable web design agency in Australia.

Staying involved in the process is essential because you are part of the brand. But it is also important to lean on the expertise of the professionals to achieve and maintain quality branding.

There will be instances when you will want to try something new. Your dedicated creative department will find a way to achieve this while staying on board with the branding guidelines.

7. Consider Different Marketing Channels

Traditional channels like television, radio, billboards, and newspaper still work. But you should also look at the potential of social media and other online platforms.

Given that it is business to calculate how much a channel would cost you versus conversion. Exposure can be expensive, so you should know carefully choose where to place your ads.

8. Stay Informed

Trends continuously shift. And your company should be able to adjust to these changes while staying loyal to your branding guidelines.

One of the most common hobbies of many successful entrepreneurs is reading. It doesn’t have to be thick books on business (but they can help!). Newspapers, magazines, and short write-ups are sprinkled with information that can be valuable for your next branding strategy

Branding is essential. But do not forget product or service quality. It’s easier to market a product or service if you have full confidence in its quality.

Conclusion

According to research, 95% of shopping will be through e-commerce by 2040. This data means there will be study growth in the number of online shoppers and all businesses that still don’t have a website are being left behind.

Hyeon Design can build a responsive web design that perfectly reflects your brand values and objectives. We are a full-service agency that also offers digital marketing, graphic design, and printing. Book a free consultation with us now!