We are giving you a comprehensive guide to branding so you fully understand what a brand is!
What is a brand?
A brand is how your audience perceives your product, service or message. And to perceive you they need to know what you do + who you are.
Let's think about livestock for a moment. Ranchers put a brand on their livestock so it's recognizable and identifiable to them specifically.
Your brand is your 'mark'. It's what makes you stand out from your competition and is intended to make you recognizable and identifiable to your audience.
To summarize: a brand is how you are recognized.
And let's be super clear- You build your brand. You don't wait to see how your audience pereceives you. You need to be strategic in presenting the narrative. So how do you do that?
What does a brand involve?
There are core components to every brand, no matter what you do. The whole of a brand can be broken down into the following parts:
Brand Values
Brand Personality
Brand Voice
Visual Identity
Unique Value
Brand Values
Your brand values are the beliefs and principles that your brand stands for that guide your development, decisions and messaging. They are at the heart of your brand's mission and hep you to determine your vision for the future. A successful brand directly, and indirectly, infuse their brand values into all they do, from sales copy, social media content, relationships. And they are the dominant reason why your audience connects with you over other competitors because consumers want to feel aligned with who they're purchasing from. Not only does building and understanding your brand values yield to a deeper connection with your audience, but it helps you assure that the business you're building is one that is rooted in purpose and passion.
Brand Personality
If you're brand were a person, how would it behave? This is the experience you want to offer through your visuals and voice.
Do you approach your content with humor and a relaxed approach or do you present in a professional and reverent way?
Brand Voice
This is the way you vocalize your brand values infused with your brand personality. This is actualized in all of your content: website copy, blogs, social media, videos, podcasts, articles, brochures, proposals, etc...
Your voice should be true to your personality and reflect your core values.
You need to think clearly about words and phrases to use and ones not to use. Your voice should be consistent and authentic so your audience experiences your brand on all levels.
Visual Identity
Your visual identity is your personality and voice visualized. Your logo, color scheme, fonts, photography and any other brand elements should give your audience a visual experience of your brand values, voice and personality. It should mirror all of those things down to each details.
Unique Value
How do you stand you amongst your competition? Unless you work to develop a clear foundation of what makes your business your brand will fail to stand out.
Your unique value can be extensive- from the way you work with your clients to the value you offer them. What qualities do you have? What is the advantage of working with or buying from you?
How does building a brand help my business?
Has the power to design and shape your audience experience so clients don't have to wait to hire you to understand your value; they understand it beforehand and want to invest in you
Helps you stay focused on your values and mission, which saves you time, energy and money
Helps you streamline your marketing efforts and make calculated and effective marketing decisions
Creates direction and clarity for employees or contractors
Positions you amongst your competition to stand out
Leads to quicker closing of sales because you've created an experience before they invest
Is building a brand right for my business?
Whether you're a solopreneur, a side-hustler or have a large company, the clear answer is yes.
Continuing to go along with your business without investing in building a brand is like throwing spaghetti at a wall hoping something sticks. In the long run, it takes extra time, and finances while all the while you are losing clients.
And you're wasting pasta, which to us Italian girls is just a damn shame.
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