Becoming A Brand: Building a Brand That Sells

Branding was once the domain of advertising and marketing agencies, and their mega-company clients. Branding once involved stationery, logos and taglines and pictures of wholesome families or cool rebels enjoying the products/services.

Today, branding is top of mind for businesses large and small, regardless of their advertising budgets. Even one-woman consulting firms and two-person artisan bakeries need to develop “a brand”.

What exactly is involved in creating a brand?

First, you already have a personal or business brand. If your business is new, then you still have your personal brand upon which you will have to rely to build your business brand. The point of this post is to help you to take control of that brand and make it into one that is positive and effectively promotes your business, product or service.
Branding is more than creating a symbol or motto or tag line for your business; branding is the art of crafting a personal and corporate identity that incorporates your/your company’s startup story, mission, values and value proposition in order to create credibility, drive interest, sales, and client loyalty.

Branding is part organic–your real-life story of founding your company or the inspiration for your product/service–and part deliberate–harnessing all of the passion, excitement and hard work into a snappy, attractive symbol and authentic message that can easily be communicated within a few minutes or a single glance at your packaging.

Branding is part idealism, part realism. Just because you say you are the best, doesn’t mean you are in the eyes of potential clients or those of your partners and employees. That’s where the authenticity part matters: Be honest about your values and your value proposition. If you know that you say that it is part of your company’s values to provide competitive wages and benefits to U.S. workers, don’t expect your clients to respond well when you outsource U.S. jobs to increase profit margins and lower wage costs. Not that there’s anything wrong with outsourcing; the point is that if you incorporate the “keep good jobs at home” bit into your stated values and mission, be prepared to live with it, even if it means that your competitors may beat your prices. Perhaps you should position your product as a premium offering. This way, no one flinches when you don’t drop prices in the face of competition (Don’t forget to actually create a premium product. Think authentic).
All of this makes branding a tall order. Now add to that the fact that you have to get the word out about all of this great branding. Because what good is a great brand that no one knows about?

So, how does one build a brand?

Be honest and objective - What is your current brand? What would someone familiar with you, your business or products/services say about you? If you don’t know. You should ask someone you trust to survey your clients, colleagues and competitors. If you have been in business a few years, ask existing clients. Consider sending out a formal survey or hiring a survey marketing firm. Additionally, if you know that you have fallen short on some of your promises, own it and fix it.

Know your audience - It’s important to know your target audience so that you can craft a message and a logo that will appeal to them. Be willing to let go of what you like in service of what’s best for your company. This applies to the name you select for your business or product and the pictures you use as part of your logos, marketing and advertising. Don’t be offended if your branding consulting or trusted adviser thinks your picture and name are not ideal for your product packaging.

Document your story - Record yourself telling the story of the genesis of your business idea, the founding of your company or what inspired you to create your product/service. Listen to the recording a few times to ensure that you’ve included every important detail. Then, write it down. The idea here is to let you hear what your clients might, and then to have you boil it down to a single, powerful paragraph that you can use in interviews, marketing materials, press releases and chance-meetings.

Differentiate your offering - You undoubtedly researched your industry and market extensively before jumping in. And, you undoubtedly came across competitors with similar products/services. How are you different? What does your product/service provide that a client in your market couldn’t get somewhere else? Remember that if you are offering professional services, you are the product and you need to be able to articulate the answers to the above questions in a professional and thoughtful way. Most businesses use pricing, product quality or selection, but you may also use the quality of your talent, the depth of your experience, your association or partnership with a popular, more established brand, and/or your ability to deliver a product/service quicker than your competitors.

Get and use feedback - As before, branding is not static. You can say it with pretty words and pictures, but the real deal comes when you put it out there and clients either validate it or they disprove it. If you’ve over-promised or mislead potential clients through your advertising and marketing efforts, they will spread the word and your carefully-crafted brand will be replaced with a new negative brand, one that will spread like wild fire. If you receive feedback that you are not living up to your brand, dig deeper to find out why and fix it immediately. Every complaint is an opportunity for a great customer service story.

Create visibility - If a tree falls in the woods…you get the point. Get the word out about your new venture by getting involved with professional associations, volunteering to speak at events or conferences, creating and distributing a newsletter, creating a website, sending out press releases, writing articles and letters to editors on topics related to your offering and publishing books. Use these opportunities to demonstrate your expertise and status as an expert in an industry.

Get professional help - Seek help if you need it. Brand-building can be hard work for even the most savvy entrepreneurs or consultants, especially when you’re spending all of your time and energy developing the product, prospecting and delivering the actual product/services.