Business Brand Online. Branding isn’t just for supercars and technology behemoths. It’s for any company looking to establish a distinct identity in their market.
When you stand in the cereal aisle and choose one box over another, your decision is frequently influenced by branding.
Do you always buy the same brand of trainers when your old ones wear out? That is brand loyalty. There is a reason why some people will pay exorbitant prices for a luxury bag, and it isn’t always because it’s made of a rare material or is more valuable.
Branding is a well-known term. It can be an intangible emotion elicited by the power of advertising, marketing, and communication. It is deciding whether a product or service is consistent with your values and how you want others to perceive you and your company.
Unfortunately, we can’t wave a magic wand and make your customers prefer one product or service over another. What we can do is provide you with some useful tips (and tools!) to assist you in developing your online business brand.
Why branding matters
Let’s take a look at how branding can help your business. We already know it can help you stand out from the crowd. “Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind,” said designer Walter Landor, who worked on brands such as Coca-Cola and Levi’s.
A brand is a company’s identity. It’s how your company is perceived, and it’s present everywhere a customer interacts with you. Design, copy, and your values can all be used to create your company’s identity. It’s everywhere, from a Monday morning Twitter post to a leaflet that falls through the letterbox.
You’ve got the branding down pat if you’ve convincingly crafted your message, if your brand has buried its way into your customer’s subconscious like a piece of popcorn stuck in your teeth, and if you’re memorable.
Consider large corporations that have infiltrated our culture and language. You can ‘Google’ a term or ‘Uber’ to a location. Branding can be extremely effective, and the more you’re seen, the more you’re known — and the more people will trust you and ultimately want to use or buy what you’re selling.
Before we begin, if you want to improve your online personal profile, read Developing Your Personal Brand. It’s jam-packed with helpful hints on how to market yourself.
Do your homeworkÂ
As always, with any kind of marketing, it all starts with research.
- Who are your customers?
- What do they do?
- Where do they go online?
Understanding as much as you can about the people that buy your product or choose your service is vital to cultivating a brand.
One way to build a clear image of your target market is through buyer personas. You can learn more on this subject in our articles on Web Content Strategy and The Art Of Finding Your Customers.
If you understand how your customers work, it’s easier to provide them with what they need before they even tell you. Another way to get to know your customers is to look at your competitors.Â
- Who are they?
- What are they promising?
- What are you doing that’s better?
Check out our handy guide Market Research 101. It’s full of ways to conduct research, from looking at surveys and sales data to market segmentation.
Take your time to get to know your target market. It’s an ongoing process that will help you to build a successful business and strategy, as well as establish your brand. It can help you inform your decisions, from forming your brand message to choosing a font. You can never know too much about your customer — after all, knowledge is power.Â
Identify your position
Once you have a firm idea of where you stand in the market and the type of people you want to attract, it’s time to work out where you want your company to be in the future, and how you’re going to get there. Create a vision statement and a mission statement to communicate this message. A mission statement speaks of your current core values and objectives. A vision statement is an aspirational description of your company’s future.Â
For example, networking site LinkedIn has a vision to ‘Create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.’ while their mission is to ‘Connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.’Over at Netflix, their mission is ‘To entertain the world.’ while their vision is ‘To continue being one of the leading firms of the internet entertainment era.’
Where is it that you want to end up? And how do you plan on getting there?  Both mission and vision statements help to guide these strategic decisions. They also give employees inspiration and purpose, and importantly, help to shape your brand identity.Â
