No need to be complicated, here's how to build a brand easily

aroundknowledge.co.id – How to Build a Brand – Imagine that you have to buy a gift for your friend who loves chocolate. Do you use Reese's, or a lower priced generic product? To me, Reese is a no-brainer for having more value as a consumer brand.

A brand is the heart and soul of a company, influencing audience perception, attracting supporters to an organization, and serving to differentiate it from its competitors. Unfortunately, many ecommerce entrepreneurs don't know how to build a brand that attracts people.

After all, building a brand isn't just picking a logo or choosing the perfect name. The right brand is the product of many interconnected elements designed to change the way people think and feel about your business.

Today we'll show you how to create a brand that keeps people coming back and buying.

What is a Brand?

The brand is the pinnacle of everything a company uses to differentiate itself and attract the attention of a specific target market. This includes visual assets such as website design, logos, brand colors, and business cards, as well as the company's tone, mission and values.

If something contributes to the way customers perceive your organization, it's likely part of your brand. Take Apple for example.

Apple, like many other brands, sells computers and technology. So what is a company that has customers lining up around the block for a chance to get their hands on one of their newest products? This is a brand.

The Apple brand is all about simplicity, innovation and modernity. The company is distinguished by a minimalist aesthetic approach, from the pristine white storefronts of the real world to Apple's highly sophisticated website.

Apple also builds its brand through:

• Constantly innovating and launching new products to make our customers' lives easier.
• Use phrases like “Think Differently” to highlight creativity
• Collaborate with market leaders on impactful marketing campaigns

The enterprising and creative nature of the Apple brand is what customers love about Apple.

8 Steps How to Build a Business Brand

Now that you know what a brand is, let's look at how to build a brand from scratch.

1. Identify Your Audience

When it comes to building a brand, it's important to know who you want to reach. Think about what types of products you sell and who you serve. Please select specific customers.

For example, instead of targeting “dog owners”, a pet accessory company might focuses on new dog owners with young dogs or those who are training their dogs for show. By choosing a specific niche, you have less competition to worry about.

Identifying your audience will help you choose the right marketing strategy to connect with the voice of your brand, design and even potential buyers. You can build your audience knowledge by:

• Research existing customers: Do you have existing customers and what do you know about them? How old are they, where are they from, and what do they like about your business?
• Look at your competitors: What kind of customers are other companies like yours targeting? Is there an underserved market segment that your product could help?
• Create a buyer persona: Imagine your ideal customer and create a profile that summarizes their age, type their gender, demographics, likes, dislikes, and behavior (such as how they shop on line).

As you start building your ecommerce brand, new opportunities arise to learn more about your audience through analytics tools and customer surveys. Adding customer personas as you go helps keep it accurate.

2. Develop Brand Positioning

Developing a certain depth of knowledge about your target audience can also give you insight into where your brand stands. You can't be a high-end, budget-friendly luxury fashion company. You need to decide where to enter the market.

The easiest way to do this is to write a positioning statement. It's just a line or two you can use to define who you are and what you do. For example, brand positioning might be: “We are a home accessories company that sells unique, handmade products to [regional] customers.”

When setting your brand positioning, think about how to differentiate your business from the crowd. In the example above, the key differentiator is the “handcrafted” aspect of the product. Knowing where you stand and what your selling points can help you create branded content and marketing campaigns that convey the right voice to your target audience.

For example, companies that sell handmade products tend to have warm, friendly voices. For example:

In contrast, a company selling high-end luxury goods would do well to adopt a more artistic and sophisticated voice.

3. Choose a Business Name.

You know your target audience and how to position your brand. Now is the time to choose the most important brand names.

It is one of the most important brand defining characteristics. A good name should sum up in one word everything customers need to know about your company.

For example, if you are a clothing business dedicated to designing new things for customers, you might create a word like “Vision Apparel”. The key to success is choosing memorable words with a voice that conveys the right emotion or idea to your audience.

Other types of names include:

• Descriptive name: A title that describes your business, such as 'Florist'.
• Emotional Appeals: Names that evoke an emotional response, such as “Innocent Drink.”
• Original designation: Preferred name for business origin or who made it, such as “Ford”.
• Joint Name: Heading with a combination of words, such as “Facebook” or “FedEx”.
• Initials and acronyms: long, easy-to-remember versions of names like “BMW”.

Your brand name also determines the URL/domain of your online store, so you should do some research to see what's available before deciding on a name. Check out our guide on choosing the right name for your store, or use this business name generator for brand name ideas.

4. Brand Story Overview

A brand story is basically the "why" behind an organization. Every business must have a goal (more than just making money). Think about why you founded your company and how your product can positively impact people's lives.

For example, the eyewear brand Warby Parker was built on a desire to offer high-quality eyewear to customers around the world at affordable prices.

The company tells the story of how its website found new ways to serve its customers by avoiding traditional channels. By communicating with customers through direct online channels, we are able to provide quality eyewear at a low cost.

The narrative identifies Warby Parker as a customer-first brand while encapsulating its commitment to providing affordable fashion to its customers.

A good story can make your customers fall in love with your business and build respect for your brand.

5. Build Your Brand View

Building your brand presence means deciding how to help customers identify your company at a glance. For example, what type of packaging will you use for your product? How do you identify parcels when customers order goods in your e-commerce store?

What will users see when they browse your website and find your products? Some of the most important elements of a brand display include:

• Brand colors: Brand colors are multiple colors to use for all brand assets, including websites, emails, and product packaging. Color can have a psychological impact on customers. For example, red is bold and passionate, and blue is reliable and comfortable.
• Fonts: Like your brand colors, the fonts you choose can have a big impact on how customers see your brand. Sans-serif fonts are often more modern and friendly, whereas serif fonts are traditional and authoritative.
• Images: What types of graphics, illustrations and graphics do you use for your products, websites and advertisements?

Once you have the distinct elements you need to build your brand image, create one set of visual guides to help inform your team and any designers you work with You.

6. Create Logos

A logo is another key element in learning how to launch your own brand. Along with your name, your logo will be one of the first things customers will recognize about your brand.

A good logo should be meaningful and easy to understand. Apple's iconic image of an apple with a bite is self-explanatory. The best way to ensure your logo has the right impact is to work with a professional designer to capture its visual essence.

Designers can describe the different types of logos they might consider, such as:

• Brand Emblem: A brand emblem, in most cases, is an image placed inside a circle or shield. A good example is the Starbucks logo. The coat of arms has a refined and traditional feel.
• Mascot Logos: Mascot logos are often centered around a specific character, such as the Wendy logo. They can help humanize your business with a unique face.
• Typography: Typography turns acronym names into visual logos. The IBM logo is a great example of this.
• Icon: Iconic logos use a simple image as an identifier, such as a Twitter bird. Great for giving your brand image a memorable visual.
• Wordmark: Wordmark uses a stylish font to turn your brand name into a logo. This logo is great for making your name easier to remember.
• Combined representations: Combined logos incorporate a company name and image, for example the Taco Bell logo.

When considering creating a logo for your brand, check out our post on the best free logo makers.

7. Write Slogan

Slogans are an optional part of the brand building process, but are worth considering if you want to increase brand reach and awareness. Slogans help customers understand your company and what it does.

The type of slogan you use depends on what you want to achieve. Red Bull uses the “Red Bull gives you wings” metaphor to tell people they can boost their energy with a drink.

Nike uses “Just do it” to showcase its motivating brand attitude. The best slogans tell your audience what they need to know about your business, while providing another unique element to add to your identity.

As you learn how to build a brand with a slogan, don't forget to use your unique brand voice to make your statement stand out.

8. Integrate Your Brand Everywhere

Now that you've built your brand, it's time to share it. Businesses must showcase their brand in a memorable way in everything they do. The easiest way is to start by writing a style guide for your employees and contractors.

Make sure everyone on your team knows what your brand looks and sounds like. Next, think about how you can draw attention to your brand across multiple channels. For example, your brand should be prominent in:

• E-Commerce Store: Choose a shop theme that matches your brand identity and embodies your corporate color. Don't forget to feature your logo on every page and make your brand voice stand out in your website content.
• Social Media: Social media is a great tool to increase brand awareness. You can also share posts that highlight your personality, post photos and images that represent your brand, and encourage people to share your brand with friends and colleagues.
• Marketing campaign: Whether it's sending out email newsletters or connecting with customers via podcasts, your brand needs to be prominent in any marketing campaign. Ensure that all of your advertising efforts consistently represent your brand image and voice.

Consistency is key when developing a strong brand. The more consistent your brand identity is, both online and offline, the better your company will become known to your audience. Consistency also helps brands appear more stable and trustworthy.