There are so many aspects of branding, that it can get overwhelming, especially as a small business trying to focus on everything else.
We all know branding is important. It tells your audience who you are as a business and what it will be like working with you, in order to attract your ideal clients. With so many little aspects making up the big picture, how can you ensure your brand is sending the right message?
Bring your brand to life!
Literally, give your brand an identity, a personality and an experience. Give your audience some"one" to engage with, instead of some"thing".
Identity
Your brand’s identity describes who it is. How would your brand introduce itself? Think about your target audience, what kind of person would draw in your ideal clients? Is your brand drawing them in with warmth, or coming off as calm, cool and collected? Remember, this is your brand’s first impression.
If your brand had to describe its appearance, how would it do so? This is where your business name, colours, fonts and shapes come into play. Much like how our physical characteristics rarely change like height or eye colour, your brand’s characteristics should relatively stay the same. They may evolve over time, but the core characteristics stay the same.
It is critical to develop an identity that reflects the business at its core.
Personality
Your brand’s personality is how it behaves. How would your brand talks about your products or services? How it connects with others and expresses itself. Is it serious or funny? Demure or bold? Masculine, feminine or neutral?
Think of what word choices would attract your ideal clients and which ones would turn them away? How do you want your brand personality to be perceived by your audience. How will it communicate your mission, vision and core values?
Your brand’s personality directly reflects how you want your customers to interact with you and your business.
Experience
Your brand’s experience is the impression it gives your audience, it's how it’s remembered. What would someone say about your brand after “meeting” it for the first time? How would they describe it?
Think about how you would describe a person after meeting them for the first time. What traits, word choices or body language led you to that conclusion? Those are all the ways the brand's experience affected you. It plays a huge role in if someone will want to work with you, or buy from you, again.
Think of how can you replicate those feeling with your brand? Solidifying, and being consistent with, your brand’s experience creates an emotional connection with your customers that will continue to grow over time.
If your business uses your personal brand, these are a little easier to identify because your brand’s identity, personality and experience emulate your own. If your business is developing its own brand, you are creating a character for your target audience to meet and interact with.
Struggling with where to start? Take a look at some of your favourite or most memorable brands and imagine them as a person. Write down their characteristics and how they come off to you. This will give you a detailed idea of how you interact with brands you love, and put you in the right direction of how you want your brand to be perceived.
In conclusion,
The purpose of your brand, overall, is to create relationships with your customers. The easiest way to do so is to create a brand your customers WANT to interact. Create someone that perfectly portrays who you are as a business and what you have to offer, create someone they can fall in love with.
Need help bringing your brand to life? Book a Branding Strategy session with us today!
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