5 Strategies to Build a Strong Brand for Your Business

Many owners picture a logo when they hear the word brand, but a brand is what a business promises its customers, built from what the business is, what it hopes to become and what people believe about it. A recognizable, trusted brand makes the rest of your advertising and marketing easier, because people who already know and trust a name respond differently from people meeting the name for the first time. Building one takes time and steady effort, and it is never quite finished. The five strategies below apply whether your customers are mostly in the Atlanta area or spread more widely, and they cover your online presence and the physical signs of the business alike.

Start with plain questions: what does the business stand for, what are its values and what does it promise? Put the answers into a short mission statement that you and your staff can repeat without notes. The values should be ones the business really holds and acts on, such as how it treats customers, how it handles a problem and what it will not compromise on, because customers see through values that exist only on a page. You will need to look at the business objectively, which is easier with someone outside the company asking the questions. The goal is for customers to think of you first when they need what you sell, and to feel good enough about the experience that they come back and tell other people.

A brand is partly what you intend and partly what people perceive, and the two can drift apart. Look at your business through your customers’ eyes. What do they say about you in reviews, in conversation and in messages? What do they mention first, and what do they never mention? Keep track of those comments. They show which parts of your brand people notice and value, which deserve more emphasis, and where you are being understood differently from the way you intended. Take this up regularly rather than once, because what customers say changes as your business and your market change.

Customers care less about a list of features than about what those features do for them. List what you offer, then translate each feature into the benefit it brings: time saved, worry removed, a problem solved. Benefits leave a lasting impression, and customers’ own words in reviews often show them better than your claims can. Give the brand a distinct personality as well. The way you write, the way you answer the phone, the tone of your social posts and the name you use should all feel as though they come from one recognizable personality, a business people are glad to deal with. Where you can, personalize: remember what customers like, respond to their preferences and show them there is a person behind the name.

The aim is to be the first business a customer thinks of when they need what you sell, and relationships are how you get there. Social media is a natural place for conversation: answer questions, thank people, share something useful and let them see who you are. Email newsletters keep you present between purchases when they offer something worth reading instead of a steady stream of promotions. A blog and good content on your website help people find you, and short branded videos let them see and hear the business.

Your online presence matters because it is what people see when you are not there to speak for yourself. Many people check a website and a few profiles before they trust a company, and a visible, consistent presence reads as credible. Keep the website current, clear and easy to use on a phone. Above all, be authentic. A brand that imitates its competitors gives people no reason to remember it, while a real story told in your own voice does. Our page on social media marketing and our page on website design are good places to follow up on these two channels.

A customer should recognize you wherever they meet you. That means the brand’s look, voice and promise stay consistent online and offline: the website, social accounts, business cards, print ads, signs, uniforms, vehicles, packaging and the signature on every email. Mismatches, such as an old logo on a sign and a new one online, or one name on the website and another on a listing, make a business look careless or unfamiliar. Write the basics down in a short style guide covering the name, logo versions, colors, fonts, tone of voice and the core promise. Then audit everything customers touch and update all of it, not only the most visible pieces, so that people get the same experience wherever they found you.

A brand is an asset that evolves, and it stays relevant only if you keep paying attention to it. Every so often, look at what you are doing and how people are engaging with it, and ask whether more people know you and whether they understand what you stand for. Use what you learn to adjust your messages, your channels and your promise, and then keep delivering on the promise itself. Reputation is built by what the business does every day, long before any advertisement can be believed.

Behavioral science offers a handy way to think about branding: what do people notice, remember and choose when they meet your business? A brand works as a shortcut for those decisions. People pick the name they recognize and trust, which is why familiarity, consistency and a clear promise count for more than any clever one-off message.

Kirk Donovan’s approach to advertising treats every message as something meant to draw a response from whoever sees it. To see how branding connects with the rest of that work, read about brand management and creative advertising, and then our companion post on what makes for an effective advertisement. More reading on the subject is gathered in the brand marketing topic.