NEW YORK, May 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Developing a brand from the ground up always has its obstacles. From evaluating your competition to creating a cohesive brand and style guide, there are many components to take into consideration. Read on for four tips to keep in mind when creating a successful brand.
1. Research Your Competition. To drive growth, you need to conduct industry research on your competition. This includes but is not limited to:
- The number of keywords they rank for
- Social following and engagement
- Key messages and strategies
- Brand positioning
By looking into these components, you can further determine the pain points and motivations of your competition. Ultimately, helping your brand flourish.
2. Hone in on Your Target Audience. When developing a brand, it’s essential never to lose sight of who your target market will be. For example, leading obstacle course racing company, Spartan, led by Carola Jain, works endlessly to elevate the community experience for their global audience through technology. When considering your target market, it is imperative to understand your buyer persona inclusive of:
- Age
- Location
- Gender
- Professional
- Income Level
- Interests
Identifying the specifics will not only benefit you in creating a successful brand, as Carola Jain did with Spartan, but will carry over to assist you in future marketing efforts.
3. Establish Your Unique Value Proposition. Before beginning marketing and advertising, you need to identify your unique value proposition. It is critical for this proposition to resonate profoundly with your target audience while also setting yourself apart from the competition. Jennifer Calise, CMO of fishbat Media, believes that your value proposition should ideally include three things:
- Why your customers should purchase from you and not your competition
- What perks your product will offer that your competition does not
- How your product will solve a problem and improve the situation
When brainstorming ideas, don’t forget that your value proposition is only going to be useful if your target market can relate to what you’re saying.
4. Create a Strong Brand and Style Guide. Think of your brand and style guide as the bible of your brand. It will not only assist you externally through various marketing efforts but also benefit your internal team when creating branded assets. Branding expert, Jen Calise, also believes that a brand and style guide should include the following components:
- Brand Story
- Brand Promise
- Key Benefits and Messaging
- Brand Voice and Personality
- Color Palettes and Fonts
- Logo and Usage
When creating this guide, it’s essential to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. You do not want there to be any room for interpretation. Something simple such as positioning the logo wrong could end up negatively affecting your brand, damaging the level of consistency you have already worked so hard to create.
When creating the brand of your dreams, don’t forget to take these tips into account. Before developing a brand identity, it is imperative to do your due diligence and research your competition to help your brand stand out. To attract the right consumers, develop a user persona for each segment of your target audience to ensure you’re using the right messaging. Don’t forget to practice what you preach when it comes to your unique value proposition; keep in mind that consumers will hold you to the promises you make along the way. To tie everything together and finish off the first steps of creating a successful brand, developing a cohesive brand and style guide will increase consistency and ultimately, brand recognition.
ABOUT FISHBAT: fishbat is a Long Island ad agency that takes a holistic business approach to their clients’ digital marketing programs. The fishbat team understands the importance of business principles just as well as the nuances of the latest digital technologies. fishbat offers every digital marketing service available from digital marketing research and planning to brand development to website and asset creation through social media management and search engine optimization programs – all custom calibrated for both B2B and B2C businesses.
SOURCE fishbat
