A brand is your consumer’s idea of your product. The brand is what makes your startup stand out among others. After all, it is true that people don’t react to reality but rather to what is their perceived reality. A brand gives you a chance to craft something that has an impact which stays with people. It is your brand which speaks for you in the market. Your brand is what people connect with.
Why do certain brands stay with us while others don’t? Why does it happen that we only look for a certain brand while buying something? Why do we only want Coca-Cola when we get a thirst for something fizzy and bubbly? Why do we always want to buy the latest Apple phone when our current device works perfectly fine? Or why do we always want to have McDonalds even when we can have better fast food from somewhere else?
Because a brand is not simply a name on a product. An effective brand has a certain feeling or association attached to it that their consumers pick up on. It’s a connection they have established with their consumers which earns them loyalty.
When Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, says that your brand is what people say about you after you leave the room, he is exactly right.
Airbnb has a consumer base of millions of travelers from 191 countries. Slack, despite the presence of plenty of communication apps out there, has created its own thriving presence in the market. It is through the power of branding that they have been able to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Branding is not just your logo and color pallete but rather involves your entire marketing process. Just as an individual carries a certain reputation, so does a brand.
Here are 7 tips you can use to build your brand and position your startup in the market from scratch.
Find your target market
This is what decides the success or failure of your brand and moreover your startup. You cannot produce the same content for children and adolescents as you do for adults or any other distinct demographic. Identify exactly who is your target market and tailor your content according to that.
Stand out in that market
You have to be unique in order to create your mark. You have to identify your competitive advantage and use it to make your brand distinctive. Highlight this advantage in all of your marketing communications.
Authenticity
Don’t lie. Just don’t. Do not promise what you cannot deliver. Stay consistent with the promise you have made with your consumers. Do not forget that brand is a promise and you have to keep that to earn and retain loyal customers. Consumers are very educated and will see through any attempts to misrepresent who you are and what services or products you provide. You will lose a lot of potential customers by not building trust.
Reach out to your target market
To establish a true connection with your audience, you need to identify where to reach them; through which medium and through what sort of content. Certain social media apps like TikTok are great for reaching teens and a generally younger demographic. Determine the right platform for your message.
Consistency is key
No matter what you do, stay consistent. Your brand is not developed in a day but requires a lot of time and effort. It takes a lot of advertising across a variety of channels to drive your brand’s message into your consumer’s mind.
Looks do matter
The way your brand looks is very important. It should define and portray your brand’s values and story. The visual representation, color palette, typography and other elements all set the tone for your brand.
Stay relevant
Your brand needs to be relatable. Once you have developed content that touches on problems and solutions relevant to your target audience you can leverage this content across appropriate social media channels.