Did you know that brands that benefit from good reputations can reap tens of millions more in revenue than brands with poor reputations, but still relatively good products or services? Brand style and brand reputation are everything when it comes to business.
If you are just starting out and building a business from scratch, or if you are simply looking for ways to boost your current company’s brand presence, defining your brand can determine your success.
We have developed the most comprehensive guide to the dos and don’ts of defining your brand. Enjoy!
Do Follow the Data
First things first, be sure that you do plenty of research before deciding what niche you want your company to go after. Perform market research and conduct focus groups to find where the holes are in the market and where your organization has the strengths to become a differentiator.
Performing market research will also allow you to determine what your potential customers prefer and what turns them off. Taking this step when defining your brand can help you prevent making brand-ruining mistakes later on.
Don’t Be a Copy Cat (or a Follower)
This might be the most important don’t of them all. Whatever you do, don’t be a copycat! This is the cheap way out and consumers can sniff out a copycat in no time.
Seeing what other successful brands are doing to inform what you should be doing is one thing. You want to stay on top of the trends and what consumers care about.
But blatantly ripping off your competition, whether it is the colors, logo styles, copy, or marketing tactics is cheap. This is also one of the fastest ways to ruin your brand before you even get it lifted off the ground. Consumers will think of your products as cheap knockoffs if that is how they see your brand.
Do Find a Visual Identity
When most people think of famous brands, they immediately think of the logos, the style of the organization’s advertising and marketing, and the general vibe the company puts out. This is called visual identity. This covers everything from the logo, brand colors, style of your public-facing materials, and so much more.
When establishing your brand, you need to also establish what your visual identity is to the public and to your customers. This will be how your customers remember you.
Don’t Be a Flip-Flopper
When defining your brand, you do not want to be a flip-flopper. What does this mean exactly? You don’t want to be changing up your brand imagery and identity too often. Don’t create brand content that simply jumps from trend to trend. This will look inauthentic to your customers.
Stay true to the brand you’ve created. Trust that you have made the right decisions after you’ve done market research.
It’s also important to remember that you don’t want to be afraid of change. Should it come time to do a brand refresh after creating your initial brand, then so be it. Staying with a stale brand can be even more damaging than being an inauthentic brand.
Do Find Your Unique Voice
It is critical that you find your unique voice when defining your brand. Many people are afraid to take risks or attempt things that no other brand is doing. When they do this, they risk fading into the sea of competitors. You often have to work twice as hard to even get noticed.
In order to stand out, you need to be bold when defining your brand. Make it unique to your product or services. Be bold!
Don’t Forget Who Your Audience Is
As always, you never want to forget who your audience is. You need to make sure that your brand tailors to the needs and desires of your customers.
When creating your brand, if you stray too far from your target audience, it is very likely that you will lose the customers you have worked so hard to obtain. Stay true to the people that your brand is meant for and you will see success!
Do Have an Awesome Website
This might be advice you’ve heard before, but it deserves repeating. You need to have a killer website in order to define your brand. Websites are the number one place a potential customer will go looking for more information on how to buy a product or service from you.
Some people will claim that having a high-quality social media presence can replace having a great website, but that’s not entirely true. Social media can help attract customers and market your business. But when it comes to the actual purchasing experience, having a secure website that is legitimate will be your most powerful tool in converting leads to sales.
Are You Looking for Help in Defining Your Brand?
Defining your brand, especially when you are first starting out, can be extremely difficult. It can be tough to know where your company will go and you do not want to pigeonhole yourself into a niche that you are still unsure about and might outgrow. As tough as it is, defining your brand needs to be a top priority.
If you need some additional assistance in defining your brand, don’t be afraid to reach out to a team of professionals to help make it a reality. The brand specialists at Evergreen can help you create a spectacular brand that can stand out from the competition.
Contact us today to get a quote and start building a great brand identity.
