Branding identifies you in the marketplace and influences the way people think and feel about your company, services, and products. Effective branding evokes positive and lasting emotional responses in customers and target audiences. Brand management aligns your values, philosophy, strategy, operations, and business practices to position and presents your brand to the world. Your brand identity makes a credible sentimental connection to your brand personality. This article from Markets Herald highlights a few ideas to help you clarify your brand identity and personality, build brand awareness, and differentiate your company for future success and growth.
DIY and Professional Brand Personality Tools
Your logo and website, and choice of color palette, text, and graphics, shape your brand personality and help influence the way customers respond to your brand. Many small businesses manage branding and brand management processes with DIY free online digital marketing tools, such as logo generators, advertisement makers, and automated email programs.
Content marketing through social media posts and blogging is essential for keeping your brand front and center with your customers and new audiences and for positioning yourself as an expert in your industry (click here to learn more about content marketing and what it entails). Involve all your employees — but especially your marketing and sales teams — in branding exercises to promote cohesive and integrated actions and imagery across all aspects of your company.
Consider hiring professionals to perform a competitor analysis to situate your brand relative to your competition and the broader overall market trends. A strong brand personality goes beyond imagery and general consumer feelings to incorporate powerful emotional responses to perceptions of brand authenticity, sophistication, and excitement. Major brand overhaul and brand evolution strategies adjust your brand personality so you stand out from the competition.
Strengthen Your Brand Awareness
Customer surveys are an excellent way to discover how customers really perceive your brand. A good way to identify a new target audience is to build brand awareness in new market segments. Go beyond traditional customer demographics, such as age and purchasing history, to segment markets by geographic location and economic status. Adjust your marketing to respond to constantly evolving market trends and consumer lifestyle changes. Brand positioning is fluid and dynamic, depending on market conditions, business environments, and relevant competitive forces. Test new markets to determine growth potential using fine-tuned projections and predictive business data analytics.
Every small business owner should possess some basic marketing and brand management skills. To bolster your confidence and skill set, consider an online business degree or short courses in branding, digital marketing, or business management. Many post-secondary options provide flexible and part-time online study options so you can work full-time and tend to family obligations while completing your studies. Check that the schools and programs you are considering are independently accredited and offer competitive tuition rates before committing to continuing your education with them.
Brand Well and Succeed in Business
Good branding practice means paying close attention to aspects of brand identity, personality, and awareness in the marketplace. Strong brand positioning for future growth needs accurate market research, content marketing, and effective market segmentation efforts.