Branding: do you know who you are?
There is a lot of talk about branding, but what exactly is your brand and how do you use it to help you reach more people and market your products or services?
Your brand is the core of your marketing, the central theme of your products and services.
Your brand is not your logo or your company name, unless, of course, it's Microsoft or the Yellow Pages online directory.
For people to come to hire you or buy from you en masse, your brand must be clear, attractive, exciting and powerful. In fact, your brand needs to be powerful enough to get your customers into action, and at the same time, you need to actively express what it is and its uniqueness.
Once you are sure of your brand, you also get an easy, tangible way to talk to people about what you do. It makes it much easier to do your marketing when you have clear in mind what it is that you are selling in the first place.
When you are building your brand, you are creating a memorable marketing message that will inspire people to take action and choose you over your competitors.
Here are five helpful tips to help you find your brand:
Your Brand Tip 1
Your brand is the core of what you do. What feelings or emotions does your business inspire in you and your customers? Did you know that people's buying decisions are based on emotions, not facts?
Your Brand Tip 2
Think about how you present yourself, not just on your website, but also when people see you, talk to you on the phone, or read your email. Does your marketing constantly say what it wants? Are people getting mixed messages from you, or is it clear from the start what you're doing?
Your Brand Tip 3
Think like your potential customer, try to get inside their head and see your products or services from their point of view. How do they experience what you do and how does it make them feel?
Your Brand Tip 4
What is it that makes you stand out from the crowd? If you don't think you will, then you need to think of a way that you can, because your brand must be somehow different from others, it is not enough to be the same as others, but better.
Your Brand Tip 5
What are your best skills, do you know your greatest strengths? Choose an unbiased person, who knows you well, to help you decide what your main attributes are; Your brand should be based on your unique strengths and abilities.
Ultimately, creating a strong, memorable, compelling, and meaningful brand is essential to successful marketing, and something you can do with a little thought and can be a little help from your (unbiased) friends.
