How to Build a Brand, the Fundamentals

1. How to Build a Brand, the Fundamentals We’re going to whip out the big guns first: your brand isn’t just your identity, it’s an extension of your consumer’s identity. See? Epic. Everyone that associates with your brand is effectively telling their world that they’re two things: devout and interwoven. Building that kind of bond with your audience is the ultimate relationship you’re aiming for in business. So, it pays (both literally and metaphorically) to put the work into understanding who you are as a brand, before unleashing it. Let’s get you started with the fundamentals. Step 1: Define your target audience. Want someone to connect with you? Then get to know them. Don’t just talk. Listen. Your primary audience isn’t everyone who can use your service or buy your product. It’s the group who’ll love it most. Those who’ll be your biggest cheerleaders. It isn’t always necessarily tied to a need – it comes from a desire to want to genuinely take what you have to give, and what you have to give is more than just the tangible deliverable. So, first things first – narrow it down. Think lifestyle, demographic, age, location, tastes, discretionary spend … think of a persona. Once you know that person, you know how to talk to them. From there you can begin to define your secondary audience: those who will still connect with your brand, but they’re likely to connect with the engagement you receive from your primary audience… or compare you to what else is on offer. This audience has a very different need and interest level, so your best bet, especially in the beginning, is to go for the bulls eye with your number ones: the primary target.

2. Step 2: Articulate your value proposition. It’s pretty simple and it goes like this: We are this business, and we do this, for these people. No buzzwords. No taglines (yet). This is the crystal-clear message that underpins why you exist. The next step is to make it attractive to your customer. Enter your point of difference. Step 3: Understand your point of difference. This is your ‘why’. Your promise. It’s what motivates you to hustle. And not in an ‘I need your money kind of way’ – in a way that defines your character through what you have to offer. It’s what comes exclusively to you: the way your source your ingredients, your efforts in sustainability, a flavour profile that can’t be replicated because of the techniques you use, your deep and intimate knowledge of your craft … your bragging rights. You get the picture. This is the kind of stuff that makes you stand out from your competitors. Which brings us to the next point. Step 4: Know your competition.

3. Straight up, you want to know who sells the same or a similar product or service. But you also want to know who stands out from the crowd, so hit the oracle – Google – and get started. Why? You’ll want to know who dominates SEO, has the most followers, gets the most engagement, has the ultimate X-factor. Then you can start listing all your other key competitors based on your selling points (and key messages). Read More…