How do you define your brand identity?
Why can a false brand identity mislead customers about your business and
cost you valuable leads?
A business with a wrong brand identity is swimming against the tide and
creating problems for itself that can be avoided by building the right
brand.
A strong brand identity serves your business by demonstrating your core
value without much assistance and should be the cornerstone of all your
marketing efforts.
If you have already created your brand but it is outdated or for some other
reason not accurately communicating your goals to the audience, the
rebuilding process can be more challenging but equally positive.
Are you looking for help targeting your ideal clients? In this article, we
will explain how to target your ideal customers with your brand, and if you
ask the right questions, the answers and brand identity will come
naturally.
Before you get started on any branding or rebranding, try asking these five
questions so you know you're on the right track.
What do you like about your work?
This is a simple question and may not be easy to answer. The answer you
give can really tell you a lot about your business interests and why you
work in the first place.
Do you enjoy the product yourself and would like to share what you have
made or discovered with others? Or are you a public speaker who loves to be
on stage teaching others?
By asking yourself what you like about your job, you'll see what others might like about it, plus, the more fully you understand why you're at work and what you love about it, the more people will capture that energy, which is key to properly branding your company.
What brands do you like?
Although a foreign industry to you may not seem like a good guide to your
brand, it can explain what you like and how you would like to be seen.
Identify a few brands that you have been loyal to and analyze what drew you
to them. Are they highly trustworthy and business focused or loud and
community-focused?
You may analyze everything about a company, including its tagline, website,
and social media material.
You don't need to copy them at all but evaluate the intentions behind their
identity and why this same approach might be right for you and your
business.
What does your competition look like?
Your competitors may have already done some research for themselves before
they committed to their brand, see how they sought to define the unique
brand voice that makes them stand out from everyone else.
If there is consistency between competitors, understand that the
similarities exist for good reason, perhaps you should adopt some elements
of those consistent variants in your own brand.
What are the frequent complaints of your customers?
These could be industry-wide flaws or simply something that no one has
taken the effort to address.
If potential customers encounter the same flaw over and over again, and you
can offer them a solution that ends that complaint, it should be at the
forefront of your business identity.
What is new you offer?
You must ask yourself, what do you do completely differently from others
and what is new you offer?
This could be something as small as the guarantee of your service or the
variety of your prices, something different from what you like about
yourself.
This question is about what your ideal customers like about you, and these
can be very different answers but they are no less important in defining
your brand.
A brand that isn't right for your business will work against your goals, so
be sure to ask yourself these five questions before you start settling on
anything.