Feb 15, 2019
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A personal and professional brand is more than a company logo and the font of the sign. A brand establishes what your company stands for, what your customers can expect, and what people think of when they hear your company name. Building your brand will give you more exposure in the community and possibly nationwide. A huge part of branding includes advertising and marketing, but it also includes what people think of you personally (if you are the owner) and your company as a whole.
First Steps
If you are just starting a business, you need to decide what you want your business to represent. Researching other companies in the same field will help you decide what you like and don’t like about their models. Decide who your target audience is going to be, and the main age and gender that dominates that demographic. The same advertising and branding that appeals to Generation X are not going to appeal to Millenials, and everything that appeals to Millenials are not going to appeal to Generation Z. Understanding your target market is a way to focus on the direction of your branding.
Creating The Brand
First and foremost, hire a professional to create a logo. Unless you have a lot of experience in graphic design, then it would be wise to hire someone who has an understanding of the nuances that it takes to create a logo. There are famously bad examples of logos that were designed with the best intention in mind but failed miserably. Choosing a logo, font and color scheme of your business is not as simple as you may think. Having a well-designed logo and website can be what changes your business from being perceived as a hometown business to the big leagues.
Expanding the Brand
Advertising and marketing are just the first steps to solidifying your brand. There are hundreds of ways for you to grow your brand, it just becomes a matter of how you want to be known. You can choose to sponsor the local sports teams, donate to charities, sponsor fun runs, or find other ways to participate in the community. Having great customer service is another way to generate buzz around your brand, or create products that are always held to a high standard. Social media presence is huge now, and many companies believe that just creating multiple social media accounts will benefit them, but what they post and how they interact with customers is what makes them stand out.
Many companies exist to help you expand your brand and get more clients. But you have to
decide what you want your company to be associated with, how you want to be perceived and the direction that you want to move forward with. Jeff Bezos once said, “ Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Ultimately, you can’t control the conversation, but you can give them something to talk about.