Your Business Brand Dies Every Minute You Don’t Read This
Build a Brand, they said. Your graphic designer told you that he’ll brand your business. After paying, you got a snazzy new logo, some funky mockups and somehow that’s supposed to give you a brand.
How ever, the question on your mind is, What the hell is my brand? And why on earth is it so important?
At its most basic, Branding is what your audience and customers think about your brand. Really, think about it. What you think or feel about your business is irrelevant, if your audience does not feel or think the same.
Therefore, Branding is a deliberate cultivation of a perception of your brand in the minds of customers.
The most important words here are deliberate, cultivate and perception
This means that building a brand is deliberate, and it has to do with the minds of people. You’ve got to be intentional about it.
Do your customers think of your brand in the exact same way you want your brand to be perceived? This is why branding goes beyond a logo, a typeface, or a color. As important as those things are, it’s a means to an end. And the end is that your customer understands and believes your narrative.
Let me give you an example, yesterday, I struck two conversations on social media. Like I normally would, I made a simple joke, and one person got it and responded positively. I had to explain the joke to the other person. At the end of the day, I ended deleting the chat with the second person, while I kept up a flowing conversation with the first person for hours.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the second person is boring, it could be that we just don’t flow well together, or whatever. The point remains is that I made a decision based on what I felt and perceived from them.
Like it or not, first impressions last long, and you have a higher chance of attracting your target audience if your impressions remain consistent.
Another example, last month, I was contracted to design content for a company’s social media page. I didn’t get a chance to speak with the business owner, and all I had was the content on their website. Yet when brainstorming with my designer, she pitched an idea, and I instinctively knew that this would not represent the company well. Sure enough, when I asked, the marketing manager said that that position is quite different from what the company represented.
Question is, How did I know?
It’s simple, by reading through the company website, I was able to form the right impression about the company so that instinctively, I knew what they were about and what would fit the company image.
Branding is why you can buy something at a more expensive rate in a store, yet try and bargain for a lower price from the shop inside the market.
You know that adage never judge a book by its cover? Well, people almost always make snap decisions based on your boom cover. So for heaven’s sake, design a beautiful book cover.
Deliberately create an impression in the mind of your customers on what your business is about. And remain consistent.
Think of it like this. If I take a prospective/ideal customer, give him an hour to go through your social media feeds, available content, and so on. Then, at the end of the hour, ask the customer to describe what they think of you.
If their description matches what you are about, then your branding is great. If not, then your branding needs a lot of work.
In conclusion, how do you apply all these values to your brand?
You start by having a set of values about your brand.
Who are you?
What is your business about?
What do you value?
What do you consider important?
How do you want people to see you?
You must be clear about this. You can’t afford to be inconsistent
From there, you ensure that every single thing you put out must reflect what your values are. Whether it’s a video, a picture, text content, or whatever.
Remember, branding must be intentional.
P.S This article is part of a new series I’m starting called Business FAQs. It’s aimed at answering the questions that small business owners and solopreneurs have. You can join the live sessions on WhatsApp here
