Step by Step Guide to Building a Successful Brand

Brand building is an ongoing process, but if done right, the results can be uncanny. 

Despite popular belief, your brand is not just your company’s logo. It is not what a customer first sees; it is how they feel about your message or your product. For that reason, strong brands are not built overnight.

Remember that you are trying to form a strong relationship with your customers, a relationship based on mutual trust and respect.

If you want to have a successful brand, you have to prepare yourself to work hard and with all your heart.

That’s what I mean when I say that brand building is an ongoing process – your brand is your reputation, the most crucial asset of your company, and it should be integrated into everything that you do.

Even though every business is unique and everyone’s journey is different, there are some steps in the brand-building process that you shouldn’t skip. 

When we were building our office furniture business, these were the steps we implemented, and we still stick to them regularly and consistently to this day because as I said, brand-building is a lifetime process…. but it is worth every minute and every second of our time.

1. Define your brand’s mission

Before you start building a name for yourself, you should clearly define your brand’s purpose.

What is your mission? What makes you different from your competition? Why do you get up in the morning and decide to do what you do best?

These questions will help you determine your company’s fundamental values.

Once you have your answer, make sure that your logo, tagline, strategies and campaigns represent these values in the best possible manner.

One of the most important lessons that we learnt during our entrepreneurial journey was that people don’t buy things. They buy emotions; they buy vision.

It is because of the beliefs that you share with your customers that they decide to purchase a service or a product from you.

Most importantly, they make the decision to stick to your products; they decide to come back to you and buy more. That’s called loyalty and it is fundamental for your brand.

We’ve recently changed our name to demonstrate better what we believe in, so we became Eco Office – a name that shows our clients how committed we are to sustainable, eco-friendly practices.

This has always been our mission, but we wanted to embrace it fully and show our customers what the future holds for them and us.

2. Define your target audience

The biggest mistake that many businesses make is that they think their target audience is everyone.

The truth is that you can’t reach everyone, and not everyone will be interested in your product. Think carefully about your niche.

Who do you want to reach? The more specific you are with your target audience, the chances are higher that you will build a successful brand.

Once you figured out your ideal audience, only then you can start crafting your company’s message and tailoring the perfect solution to their problem.

Defining your buyer persona will benefit your brand in many ways, but it will also help you with the later strategies and marketing campaigns. 

3. Do your competition research

Building a successful brand is not just about consistency; it is also about uniqueness.

If you want your business to flourish, you have to offer your target audience something different.

That’s why researching your competition is one of the most important steps in the brand-building process. 

Analyse their product or service, and figure out what you could offer to your customers that your competitors are not offering already.

Focus on creating a product or service that stands out from the crowd. Show your customers why they should choose you over your competitors.

Don’t be afraid to tell them loud and clear what the main differentiators between you and the others are.

4. Design your logo and tagline for a successful brand

If you’ve done the first step right and defined your mission, designing a good logo and slogan should also come naturally to you. However, you shouldn’t underestimate this part.

Your logo will become your brand’s identity and it will appear on everything, from your products to your promotional material.

Your clients and partners will recognise you at first glance of your logo and tagline, so these should leave an outstanding impression.

Set aside enough money so that your brand can get a well-deserved visual representation. Be prepared that it might take some time and budget to get there, but it will be worth it.

Sometimes it is better to pay more for a professional designer than to pay less but then be obligated to go back and forth due to wrong results.

5. Prepare a marketing strategy 

Marketing has always been, and it will probably forever be an essential aspect of every business. The communication channels might continuously be changing and developing, but the fundamentals will remain the same.

Rest assured, you need the right marketing strategies to help you reach your ideal audience. 

At the moment, digital marketing has taken over, so it goes without saying that you should design an excellent website for your business while focusing at the same time on SEO, content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing. 

Stay true to your mission and your core values. Make sure to include these in your marketing campaigns.

Your strategies will help you share your vision with your audience, building a successful brand as a result.

Conclusion

Having a reliable and successful brand can do wonders for your company. It can bring you more profit, increase your market position, but above all, help you create a bond with your customers.

If you have your customers’ loyalty, you have everything. 

Yet that doesn’t mean that your work is done. Everything that you do and create onwards should nurture the existing bonds and form new ones.

As long as you live and breathe your vision, your brand will breathe and live it with you… and that is the best feeling in the world!