How To Create An Effective Branding Strategy When You Start Your New Business

The successful launch of a new company requires a well-designed and implemented branding strategy. It is one of the differences between brands that are household names and those in the discount bin. Before you open for business, you need to invest the time and effort into each step of the branding strategy development.

By the time you begin creating your brand strategy, you will have your business development plan drafted. Some of this data will be useful as you develop your brand presentation to other members of the business community, employees and consumers. For instance, your mission statement provides a compass of sorts. Your branding should line up with the words and emotions it contains.

Once you have aligned your company and the proper strategy, you can move to the next phase: tool development. Lastly, you will take steps to strengthen your brand. The implementation and subsequent monitoring of this third phase remain in play as long as the business stays open.

Who Is Your Brand?

Just as people have personalities, so do brands and you need to identify the correct one for your company. Is the brand fun-loving, serious or healthy? Whatever it is, communicate it to your customers through your branding efforts!

Evaluate it for:

* Position - Your brand identity should reflect a promise of supporting a particular state of mind. For instance, is it environmentally-friendly, technologically innovative, or better than the competition?

* Communication regarding product development

* Insight regarding the company culture

Who Is Your Target Demographic?

Oftentimes, new entrepreneurs give a broad answer to this question, such as "everybody." However, this mistake will hamper branding and marketing efforts until rectified. The more clearly you can define your targets, the easier it will become for you to reach them. Your company will grow faster as a result.

Remember that the goal is to form a long-term relationship with consumers. You need to understand them and fulfill one or more of their needs. Think of the relationship between the brand and the client as two dancers. They need to understand each other and perform the right moves or it will not work correctly.

Write The Brand Position

At this point, you need to clearly see and record the position of your brand. What differentiates it from the competition? Why are your products or services better? Are you worth giving money to? Think carefully about the position you take and document it as part of your business strategy. A few sentences that reflect "who" you see when envisioning the business should suffice.

Determine Communication Strategies

Although consumers are the first people that come to mind, your brand must also communicate with various other people in the community. You also need guidelines regarding employee and potential business partners messaging.

The overall brand image does not change. You simply alter the presentation so that it is appropriate for the intended audience. After all, an employee training video should have a different voice than a sales ad.

Create Your Logo And Tagline

Your logo and tagline should line up perfectly with the image you are attempting to convey. If you do not yet have a brand name, now is the time to develop one. These three aspects of your brand will provide a consistent visual message for others that should invoke the feeling of your brand.

The brand name should be easy to remember. Short and catchy taglines are best. As for the logo, you will need to utilize the experience of a professional designer to ensure that you have the best design. They understand aspects such as color psychology and font readability that will be invaluable when creating the logo.

Develop Your Online Presence

Now you are ready to build a website and create social media accounts. A professional web designer can ensure that you have a fantastic website and may include content services in their packages. You want your website to rank well and be found by plenty of people. To do this, you need regular content created specifically to attract consumers and rank well with the search engines. Outsource this to someone familiar with the techniques associated with web content creation.

Go!

At this point, you can implement your plans and begin marketing to your target demographic. Track the results of your efforts and make adjustments as needed and you are sure to have a successful venture!

About the author

Sparky Parker has over 35 years of related experience in marketing, internet sales and engineering. He owns and operates FrontRangeMarketeer.com, which helps local businesses generate more leads and attract new customers.

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