There's already a lot of competition out there for any company. How you do it differently, and how audiences perceive those differences, is your opportunity to stand out. It's all about building up your brand, which is as much about character as it is about visual imagery. Here are some of the keys to developing a brand that will drive growth.
Build Your Brand Name First
Establishing your company brand is about marketing your products and services as offerings under the name of your company. Product branding involves marketing individual products without featuring or sometimes even providing the company name. This can be a way to make quick profits on hot products without impacting your brand name. However, it does nothing to promote it.
You should put your resources into building up your brand name first, which is your company name. Starting as a relative unknown, you want to gain recognition and trust for your business. Unless you have plenty of funds available, it's important not to spread them too thin, too soon. Building up your core brand is more important than creating a separate brand around your key products.
Choose the Right Domain Name
Before you adopt a brand name, check that the domain name, or URL, isn't already taken at a site like Register.com. It would be a mistake to ignore the potential of the internet in promoting your brand. Brand recognition is essential online with so many alternatives just a few clicks away.
You want to be sure that when people are typing your URL into their browser, the connection is intuitive and unique. You certainly don't want users visiting competitor sites with similar URLs. The name you choose should be easy to spell and type, and avoid characters like hyphens or numbers. Using a search engine keyword in the title is also important in associating your website with the topics people are searching on.
Share the Company Story
Marketing your brand requires making an emotional human connection. One of the best ways to do this is by telling a story. Sharing your own business story can help to make that connection while providing audiences greater understanding of who you are and what you do. Not only where you come from but what you are doing will be of interest to your followers.
For example, the nutritional supplements company Vasayo featured an article on its Medium profile page about its Memorial Day Grand Opening. An inspirational theme of “One Life Touching Another” added emotional context and excitement to a patriotic celebration that was also what they called a "brand refresh". This technique of engaging audiences with business developments helps to sustain and deepen the customer-company bond.
Be Consistent
Determining exactly what your brand is about and how it will be marketed are critical decisions that you must make from the start. You don't want to change your branding if you can possibly avoid it. You may tweak it a bit, even push the limits here and there, but frequent changes will confuse audiences. Serious ads about traditions one day, and a cartoon mascot the next, will leave people confused.
This kind of scatter-gun approach only shows that you don't know what kind of company you want to be. Establishing and preserving customer loyalty requires maintaining trust. Building trust takes a little patience, so it's important to be consistent with your message.
When you've worked out the right brand, take ownership of it both legally and professionally. You don't want anyone else to tarnish it. Your brand is your business identity, and if you lose sight of it, so will everyone else.