There are only two types of people who create brands for their business: those who have owned multiple companies in the past, and the ones who are starting their first real company. Whichever side of the fence you're sitting on, it's equally important that you build an appealing, informative and memorable brand image.
Your brand image is everything about your business rolled into one package. We tend to see businesses the same way we see people – as complex beings with various pros and cons. It's your job, as the brains behind the company, to assemble all of the traits the public will see when they visit your website, check out your social media pages, or read your emails.
Positive branding results in increased customer trust, higher chances that people will sign up for your email list, and people telling their friends about their excellent experience with your company. Building a brand image is tough, but there are a few key points you should remember. Here are the key points to remember when creating a new brand image:
Gathering data and audience research
Creating a new logo
Establishing your brand voice through your website, customer service team and content
Building traction
Here is more on each key point.
1. Start gathering data.
Conducting market research and gathering data is one of the most important things business owners can do before they create their brand. There are various aspects you should consider at this phase.
First, you have to think about your target audience. Your viewers are going to be the people interested in your content, buying your products and subscribing to your newsletters. Now is a great time to start building customer personas so you can learn who you'll target during the branding process.
For example, if you discover that your audience is primarily 50 or older, you'll want to avoid slang and instead focus on building a brand with a clear message and design. Similarly, brands that target customers between the ages of 18 and 25 will have a vastly different design and voice.
If you're not creating a website from scratch, and instead have a rough idea of your business up and active, you can use data from your Google Analytics account to see what kind of content or products your existing audience enjoys.
Once you've gathered all of this information, you can move on to the next step.
2. Create your new logo.
Logos are essential to the success of your business. It doesn't matter if you're rebranding a business or starting from scratch – you should always take the time to design a logo that fits your brand voice and identity.
Color alone can have a significant impact on the way people see and respond to your brand online. For example, color psychology studies show that companies who use blue in their logo create a sense of trust with their audience. You can see this tactic used by companies like Facebook, Dell and AT&T.
On the other hand, businesses that sell health products or nature-related items or are promoting the concept of fortune and wealth may want to consider using green in their logo. There's a reason companies like John Deere and Whole Foods use eye-catching shades of green in their logos.
When you're designing your logo, it's crucial that you consider your target audience and their preferences. If you make a logo that doesn't resonate with your potential customers, there's a good chance you'll see minimal traffic and conversions.
3. Establish your brand voice.
Now that you've established your new logo, it's time to think about building your brand voice. The voice of your brand comes through during every interaction you have with the customer. In most cases, consumers will come to know your brand voice through your blog, website, social media posts and customer support team.
Let's start with your website voice. Establish your web copy first. You'll want to build your about and contact page, sales page, FAQs, and more. Make sure you use the same tone and demeanor throughout the content. If you're going to start with a sense of humor, you have to be willing to carry that voice as your business grows.
Blogs are an excellent place to grab the attention of new visitors. Very few people want to come to your website to instantly buy something. Only 25% of new leads are ready to advance to the sales phase. In other words, you need to create a reason for leads to come back to your website. Blog posts based around your niche are a great way to establish your brand voice and keep your audience engaged as they get closer to making a purchase.
Excellent customer service can make a huge difference in how the public sees your company. In most cases, people are contacting customer support if they have a question or if there was a problem with their order. Winning over these customers or interested leads is vital to success. If you want to increase the odds that customers will remember your company, keep your brand voice aligned with your customer service team.
4. Start building traction.
Once you've created your new image, you have to let potential leads and customers know that you're launching your new business, or reimagining an older company. It's much easier to build traction if you have existing customers and are rebranding your website. In this case, you can send out emails to your current customers and let them know that your brand has changed for the better. You'll likely already have steady traffic, certainly enough to notice when the new website goes live.
If you're creating your first brand, it's important that you start building traction early on social media. The audience research exercise you conducted earlier should include the common social media platforms your target audience uses. Create business profiles on those websites first, then complete and verify your profile. Now you can start sharing your blog posts on your social media profiles and engage further with your audience.
It's not a bad idea to create a lead magnet for new customers at this phase. A lead magnet is essentially a gift that a customer receives for signing up for your email list. The gift is usually an e-book, a checklist or a guide to help the subscriber reach a goal. For instance, if you operate a website that sells gardening tools, you may want to use a how-to guide as a lead magnet called "The Ultimate Guide to a Perfect Garden." Attracting more leads to your website will help build traction and make you instantly more recognizable on social media.
Everyone has a different brand voice, just like we all have different personalities. As business owners, it's our job to create brands that are helpful and creative, offering solutions to real problems that our customers face daily. It takes time to master the process of building a brand image, but it's worth learning. Think about the companies out there that inspire you – what traits do they possess that you can emulate? Our business brands are primarily the product of goals, compiled research and presentation to our audience. We are all capable of building a brand identity, but our methods will vary based on our niche and target audience.