Every company needs a brand in order to stand out from the competition and relate with customers. Having a brand allows you to market yourself and your company so you can build credibility; you want customers to not only remember you but keep going back to your company.

You want to create a lasting impact that builds a connection and trust with your consumers. The ultimate goal is to make them feel like they are a part of your brand so they start spreading your brand for you. That is why you should know how to build a brand that accomplishes all these goals and more.

Keep in mind that your brand should be the heart of your business. It isn’t just the logo – it is everything that makes up your company. Branding includes images, reputation, marketing strategies, the products or services you offer and more. It also focuses a lot on your customers and how they interact with your company. Here are seven tips on how to build a brand for your company and keep your customers coming back for more.

1. What is Your Brand?

The first part of building a brand is understanding your brand. What does it stand for? Why does your company exist? What are your company’s objectives? Who is your company? What does your company offer that isn’t found elsewhere? Answer these questions to create a personal branding statement that will help you with the rest. Your brand needs to not only promote your business but connect with people.

Again, focus on the customers: ask yourself “what do people gain by using my company?” Your brand should be a mix of what you want to represent regarding your business and what customers want to engage with.

Make sure your brand has an eternal message that can improve over time, but that it also stands out and is unique. Find a voice and style that is clear and consistent throughout. If you have a physical location, ensure your brand is reflected there with business cards, signs and even furniture.

2. Target Audience

To engage your customers properly, you first have to know who they are. Look at what they need or want, how you can solve that need or want, what they like or don’t like, etc. Use demographic tools to answer these questions, or don’t be afraid to outright ask customers what they think.

Once you know your target audience, create your voice and style so it captures their attention. In other words, build an identity through your audience’s needs. If you find that your customers like being engaged with often, keep that open communication constant in your business. Give your audience a reason to keep coming back to you and not your competition.

3. Create an Experience

As we said before, part of building a brand is about how customers interact with your company. Give them something to look forward to; give them a reason to keep coming back to your company over the competition. Let them think they are missing out if they don’t follow your brand. For example, customers might like your witty social media posts, so keep posting them.

You also want to create a value of your brand – make customers think your brand is invaluable and worth going to. Do this in a way that also connects with your audience. If you and your customers share the same values, then you have won them over.

4. Personality, Personality, Personality

We have talked about voice and style, experience and value, but take it a step further by creating a personality. Treat your brand like it’s a human being to better connect with your target audience. Ask yourself who your brand would be if it were a human: Who would it interact with? How would it interact with people? How is it different from other brands?

Make sure your brand’s personality is relatable and likable. There is no point in creating a brand if you can’t resonate with your audience.

5. Visual Elements

This is where a lot of people jump to when they think of brands: logos. However, a brand is more than a logo; it includes the typeface, color palette, icons, graphics and taglines used throughout. You want all of these visual elements to be unique and recognizable in a second; don’t create something that looks like your competition’s.

When it comes to the actual logo, you want to convey your entire brand in that logo. Check out our previous blog on creating the perfect logo for your company.

6. Online Tools

Now that you have created your brand’s purpose, its voice and style, its personality, specified your target audience and created your visual elements, it’s time to push your brand into the world. To do this, use online tools and promotional materials, like advertisements, to help grow awareness and spread information. Ask yourself what message you want to be conveyed that will capture your audience’s attention and build trust and credibility with them.

Every good business needs a website. This is where you really let customers know who you are, your missions and more. This is also a good place to write blogs, a good tool to keep customers coming back for more.

The big one, though, is social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. Use these to reach out and interact with customers. Post content often to keep them engaged.

7. Be Consistent

Finally, be consistent and harmonious. Maintain who your brand is (the voice, tone and style) through everything: the content, logos, pictures, videos, website, blogs, social media posts, etc. If you keep changing it up, people won’t believe you. Also, make sure your brand can translate across mediums; if you can engage customers online but not through TV, something is wrong.

Promotion LA and Brands

Creating a well-thought-out brand from the ground up isn’t easy; trying to hit all these criteria in a unified manner can be quite challenging. Sometimes it’s best to hire a professional that knows how to build a brand, especially someone with experience in graphic design, marketing and content creation.

At Promotion LA, we meet all these skills and more. Contact us today to start building the perfect brand for you and your company.