Your brand is so much more than just a logo or a name. It is a representation of what your business is and the experience you provide through your products and services. Your brand helps to differentiate you from other businesses in your area.
Brand management is the analysis and planning of your brand in your market, including planning out how to focus on your target demographic & how to maintain a good reputation for your brand. Knowing how to effectively manage your brand is key in this economy to ensure that your business continues to flourish.
But how do you make sure your brand is effective? Let’s take a look at some of the key things to consider when creating and managing your brand identity.
Develop a Personality and Image for your Brand
Your brand elicits emotions in your clients (both current and potential) when they see it. What sort of ideas and emotions do you want your brand to convey? An easier way to think about it is this: If your brand was a person, how would you describe their personality? Relaxed, luxurious, pampering, trendy, etc? From there, you can start to think about what your vision is for the brand and what your long-term goal is. In other words, what is your mission statement for your business and who is your target audience? All of these things put together help you develop the personality for your brand.
Create a Memorable Logo and Tag Line
Your logo is the most effective tool in building visual recognition for your brand. So take some time and effort to make it the most effective logo you can. Once you have developed the personality or image for your brand, creating a logo is the next step. Working with a graphic designer for this step can help you create the most powerful logo & color story to go with it. But don’t just stop there. Make sure that all of your communications with clients contain your logo and the color story drawn from that logo. Whether it is your website, social media, email communications, or even your collateral such as flyers, signage, or business cards, make sure your logo and color story carry throughout. Being consistent in your color story and logo will make your brand much more recognizable, and therefore more memorable.
Develop a Voice for your Brand
Developing a voice for your brand, one that matches your brand image, is the number one way to come across as authentic in your communications. You want your voice to reflect the personality and image of your brand. For instance, a luxury spa will have a very different voice than a trendy nail salon. By matching the voice of your brand to the personality and image of your business, your communications will come across much more effectively. This helps to tie your communications into your brand identity and makes your brand, and your business, much more relatable and recognizable.
Creating a powerful brand and managing it effectively is key to distinguishing yourself in the marketplace. It can help to focus your business and makes you more recognizable to clients (both current and prospective). It also gives you a strong foundation upon which to leverage and grow your business.