You have to find ways to stand out from the competition with a solid brand building process. Learn how to create a brand in eleven simple steps!

Make no mistake about it: a recognizable and loved brand is one of the most valuable assets a company owns.

According to a Nielson survey, 59% of consumers prefer to buy new products from brands familiar to them.

As a small business, you may be competing against big brands with devoted customers and unlimited marketing budgets. That’s why you have to find ways to stand out—with a solid brand building process of your own.

My favorite piece of advice to any entrepreneur is to learn how to build a brand, not just a business.

This is what will give you massive growth and raving fans.

How do you build a brand?

Look:

Branding your business is much more than just a cool logo or a well-placed advertisement.

You need to do more.

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Let me provide you with a quick definition before diving into the nitty-gritty of brand building.

What is a brand?

Simply put, your brand is defined by a customer’s overall perception of your business.

The founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, says it even better: “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Your brand is your reputation!

In today’s market, a successful brand has to be consistent in communication and experience, across many applications:

• Environment (storefront or office)
• Print collateral, signage, packaging
• Website & online advertising
• Content publishing
• Sales & customer service
• siiteInternal (with employees)

Now, brand building being simple? The truth is: branding doesn’t happen overnight…or even in a few months.

Building a brand is definitely a process and requires a strategy. However, the ongoing effort will result in establishing long-term relationships with your customers.

This can lead to a steady increase in leads and sales, word-of-mouth referrals, and advocacy for your products or services.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Your brand is defined by a customer’s overall perception of your business. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Your brand is defined by a customer’s overall perception of your business.”]

What is brand building?

The definition of brand building is to generate awareness about your business using strategies and campaigns with the goal of creating a unique and lasting image in the marketplace.

Positive image + standing out = brand success.

Branding can be broken down into three high-level phases:

1. Brand Strategy
2. Brand Identity
3. Brand Marketing

Brand Strategy will map out how you are different, trustworthy, memorable, and likable by your ideal customer. It will convey your purpose, promises, and how you solve problems for people.

This is THE first step you need to take when creating a brand from the ground up (whether you are just starting or already established).

You wouldn’t build a home without a blueprint or plans, right?

It’s the same with your brand.

You can think of brand strategy as the blueprint for how you want the world to see your business.

An effective and comprehensive brand strategy should include the following components as part of the process:

• Brand purpose development
• Audience development
• Competitor research
• Brand voice & personality
• Brand message & story

Brand strategy is a critical and foundational piece for building a successful brand. It’s one of the areas that most businesses overlook because they jump right into design and marketing.

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READ MORE: Brand Strategy: A 5-Step Process To Help You Stand Out

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Brand Identity is the way that you convey this to the public with visuals, messaging, and experience. Your brand strategy will influence how you present your identity and align it with your purpose for the most impact.

Your elements of brand identity should be applied across all channels consistently. It’s the way that your business becomes recognizable.

This includes your:

• Logo
• Colors and fonts
• Patterns and icons
• Collateral
• Website design
• Content and messaging
• Advertising
• Print or packaging

Brand Marketing is the way that businesses or organizations highlight and bring awareness to products or services by connecting values and voice to the right audience through strategic communication.

In 2024, the amplification of your brand image can be done effectively through various digital marketing activities:

• User Experience (i.e. your website)
• SEO & Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Paid Advertising (PPC)

Together, these channels are fundamental to gaining brand awareness and growth. We’ll dive into each of these elements in detail, later!

So – 

What is involved with building a great brand?

I simplified the path for a comprehensive brand building process below, to help your business brand or personal brand gain a more loyal following.

Are you wondering where to start?

Use these steps as a guide for how to build a brand!

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How to Build a Brand People Love

1. Discover the purpose behind your brand.

Every successful brand has a powerful purpose behind it.

And so should you.

It’s what you wake up every day loving to do for other people (and the world) through your product or service.

The first step of an effective brand building process is to figure out the purpose which drives you.

There are four questions you should ask yourself when defining a brand purpose:

• Why do you exist?
• What differentiates you?
• What problem do you solve?
• Why should people care?

You’ll use these ideas to inform the foundation of your branding, through a tagline, slogans, value propositions, voice, messaging, stories, and more.

Studies show that 50% of consumers worldwide say they now buy based on a company’s brand values and impact.

So dig deep and find those nuggets of truth which can distinguish your brand from others.

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READ MORE: Brand Purpose: Find Your Why with 7 Powerful Questions

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Leadership expert Simon Sinek developed an impactful model called The Golden Circle (he’s also the author of Start With Why—this book is excellent to read or listen to on Audible!)

The Golden Circle concept can help in identifying the purpose behind anything in business or life, really.

The 3 Parts to The Golden Circle:

• What – the products or services you offer to your customers
• How – the things that differentiate you from the competition
• Why – the reason you are passionate and why you exist

In fact, in the video you’ll see below, Sinek explains how to truly differentiate a brand when most of them fail.

I’ve probably watched this presentation over a hundred times, and still get chills when I do. It’s one that I send to all clients prior to our kick-off meeting for the brand discovery phase.

Some people in the marketing industry think this concept is overrated, but I disagree. It’s inspiring, certainly if you are new to branding a business or idea.

(And, there’s a reason why it’s one of the most popular TED talks of all time!)

Sit back and take a look:

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

The goal is not to do business with everybody that needs what you have.

The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

– Simon Sinek

You too can use The Golden Circle as a starting point to identify your unique brand purpose.

⇨ Learn how to build a purpose-driven brand

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Every successful brand has a powerful purpose behind it. And so should you. Dig deep and find those nuggets of truth which can distinguish your brand from others. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Every successful brand has a powerful purpose behind it. And so should you. Dig deep and find those nuggets of truth which can distinguish your brand from others.”]

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2. Research competitor brands in your industry.

You should never imitate exactly what the big brands are doing in your industry.

But, you should be aware of what they do well (or where they fail).

The goal for how to build a brand is to differentiate from the competition. Convince a customer to purchase from you over them!

We’re always thinking about ways to make a brand stand out from what’s out there already. Don’t skip this step in the brand building process.

Research your main competitors or benchmark brands. For instance, study how well they have gone about building a brand name.

For a brand name to be effective, it needs to be easy for consumers to recognize and remember.

Creating a brand competitor research spreadsheet

Competitor research is a key element of your own brand development process. Start by creating a brand competitor spreadsheet for comparison. You can use Google Sheets, Excel, or even just a notebook.

Then, answer these fundamental questions.

• Is the competitor consistent with messaging and visual identity across channels?
• What is the quality of the competitor’s products or services?
• Does the competitor have customer reviews or social mentions you can read about them?
• In what ways does the competitor market their business, both online and offline?

Choose a few competitors, two to four (2-4) is a good number for your comparison chart. You might want to take a look at other local businesses, or even aim to benchmark against name brands.

Competitor research (or market research), is one of the key components in discovering and defining your brand positioning.

⇨ Learn how to research competitors to position your brand

[clickToTweet tweet=”One of the biggest brand building goals is to differentiate from the competition. Convince a customer to purchase from you over them! #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”One of the biggest brand building goals is to differentiate from the competition. Convince a customer to purchase from you over them!”]

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3. Determine your brand’s target audience.

The foundation for building your brand is to determine the target audience that you’ll be focusing on.

You can’t be everything to everyone, right?

Right.

When implementing brand building strategies, keep in mind who exactly you are trying to reach. You’ll tailor your mission and message to meet their exact needs.

The key is to get specific. Figure out detailed behaviors and lifestyle of your consumers.

I’ll explain with a few brief examples.

• Instead of “all Moms”, you could narrow down the niche to hone in on “single Moms who work full-time from home”.
• “Techy people” is too broad. But “tech-savvy early adopters who manage a large team” can narrow the focus in.
• If you are targeting “college kids”, there is definitely room to get more specific. An example could be: “college students studying abroad in Europe during the summer”.
• “Anyone who needs a job” is certainly not a niche target market. However, “retirees looking to return to the workforce in an executive position” can be!

As you can see, targeting a niche requires committing to something very focused to start.

You’ll come to realize that the competitive advantage when branding your business is to narrow your target audience focus.

This can help ensure that your brand message comes across crystal clear to the intended recipient.

Solidify a picture of your consumers, then learn how to create a brand identity that they can understand and relate to.

Your Brand Buyer Persona

The brand creation process relies on truly understanding the buyer persona. Here are a few of the things to document when describing your ideal customer:

• Age
• Gender
• Location
• Income
• Education Level

To get even more definition for your brand’s buyer persona, dive into these details:

• Motivations
• Goals
• Pain points
• Fears
• Desires
• Influencers
• Brand affinities

⇨ Learn how to define the right target audience

Identifying the target audience for your services or products is an exercise that will affect and benefit all areas of your brand building process, particularly marketing efforts.

You want the ideal person consuming your content, clicking on your ads, subscribing to your email list, etc.

As a result, determining the ideal audience for your business will support your overall digital brand building strategies. It’s definitely an important first step!

[clickToTweet tweet=”When brand building, keep in mind who exactly you are trying to reach. Tailor your mission and message to meet their specific needs. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”When brand building, keep in mind who exactly you are trying to reach. Tailor your mission and message to meet their specific needs.”]

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4. Establish a brand mission and vision.

Step four in our brand building process –

Have you thought about your brand mission and brand vision? In essence, you’ll have to craft a clear expression of what your company is most passionate about.

This is part of your why; the reason you get up every day.

Before you can build a brand that your target audience trusts, you need to know what value your business provides.

Your brand vision is a future, someday, aspirational statement that your brand drives towards achieving.

Envision a projection of where your brand aspires to go, what it aspires to be, and what impact it will have on the environment you are in—think 10 years out.

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READ MORE: Brand Vision: Stop Drifting and Start Driving Growth!

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The mission statement is a now, everyday, statement of commitment that is a roadmap for accomplishing your vision. It will inform how you execute your brand building strategies.

Everything from your logo to your tagline, voice, message, and personality should reflect your mission and vision.

You can use the information gathered from The Golden Circle exercise (see Step 1) to create a clear and impactful brand vision and mission statements.

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Brand Building Examples: Nike

We all know the Nike tagline: Just Do It. But do you know their mission statement?

Nike’s mission is: “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world“.

You can see the Nike mission everywhere. They focus on all types of athletes using Nike products to be their best selves.

Nike goes even further with its brand mission, by adding a footnote to the statement: “If you have a body, you are an athlete“. Think about how wide their target audience becomes with a disclaimer like that!

The company has built up such a reputation and brand following, that it’s able to increase the target to accommodate every “body”.

When branding your business, start small and remember to focus on your target niche audience first.

With time, your brand loyalty may grow enough to expand your reach.

Let’s take a step back for a minute. Before crafting your vision or brand mission statement, gut check on whether you really committed to Step 3 of determining who your exact consumer is. It’s one of the most important brand building steps of them all.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Start small when branding your business and remember to focus on your target niche audience first. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Start small when branding your business, and remember to focus on your target niche audience first.”]

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5. Outline the key qualities & benefits your brand offers.

There will always be brands with bigger budgets and more resources to command their industry.

Your products, services, and benefits belong solely to you.

Starting a brand that is memorable means you dig deep to figure out what you offer, and no one else is offering.

Focus on the qualities and benefits that make your company branding unique.

Assuming you know exactly who your target audience is (see Step 3), give them a reason to choose your brand over another.

It’s important to note that this is not just a laundry list of the features your product or services offer to the customer or client. Think about how you provide value that improves consumers’ lives (outcomes or results that are experienced).

Here are a few examples:

• More authentic and transparent customer service
• A better way to support productivity
• Reducing costs with a more affordable option
• Saving time on daily tasks

⇨ Learn how to create your value propositions

Brand Building Example: Apple

If there’s one example to always look at for how to build a brand, it’s Apple.

Apple is obviously not just another computer company. One of their key qualities is a clean design, and a key benefit is ease of use.

From unique packaging to their announcement events, Apple always reminds customers that its products can be used right out of the box.

Do you remember Apple’s slogan back in 1997-2002? It was “Think Different“. This notion continues to exist, today.

We’re almost halfway through the steps to brand building. If you’ve made it this far, give yourself a high five.

⇨ Download our step-by-step workbook full of tips and templates to learn how to build your brand.

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6. Form your unique brand voice.

Your voice is dependent on your company’s mission, audience, and industry.

It’s how you communicate with your customers, and how they respond to you.

A brand voice could be:

• Professional
• Friendly
• Service-oriented
• Authoritative
• Technical
• Promotional
• Conversational
• Informative

There are endless adjectives and possibilities that can build a brand voice behind your messaging.

Ultimately, you want to choose a brand voice that makes sense and resonates with your target customers. (Again, going back to Step 3!)

⇨ Learn how to find your distinct brand voice

You’ll see that if you find and use the correct brand voice, you have the strongest chance of connecting with consumers.

This is particularly important when publishing blog articles or social media posts. Maintaining a consistent voice will help your brand image become recognized on multiple channels in the same way. A community of followers, readers or subscribers will come to expect a certain brand voice and brand personality when they consume your content (see the next step).

Brand Building Examples: Virgin America

Virgin America is known for its friendly and reliable customer service, and its voice constantly builds that brand.

On Twitter, notice their personable style—using location-based humor in this instance. They also reinforce the value that they bring to their customers—guaranteeing power outlets on every flight.

Fish sticks will fly at Pike Place before we ever offer a flight without power outlets. #FleetWide

— Virgin America (@VirginAmerica) August 4, 2015

[clickToTweet tweet=”Choose a branding voice that makes sense and resonates with your target customers. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Choose a brand voice that makes sense and resonates with your target customers.”]

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7. Let your brand personality shine.

Customers aren’t looking for another cookie-cutter company that offers the same thing as everyone else.

They are looking for an experience tailored to their needs, backed by genuine personal interaction.

Wondering how to brand your business in a unique way? Make your personality stand out in every aspect of your brand building process.

Be consistent with this brand personality across all points of contact.

It can be as simple as:

• A conversational voice in communication (using “I”, and “you”)
• Sharing behind-the-scenes content
• Telling stories about real experiences
• Describing your products/services in a quirky manner

[clickToTweet tweet=”Make your personality stand out in every aspect of your brand building. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Make your personality stand out in every aspect of your brand image building.”]

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8. Build a brand story and messaging.

When building a brand, tell customers succinctly who you are.

Use the business voice you have chosen for your brand.

Your messaging should be intricately associated with your brand and conveyed consistently.

This part of the brand development process goes beyond your logo and tagline to define the key aspects of:

• Who you are
• What you offer
• Why people should care

A brand story is an opportunity to communicate on a human level, making a direct emotional connection with your consumers.

What this means, is that the language you use should be understood immediately while striking an emotional chord.

Make it simple and clear.

Most importantly: when creating a brand story, address not what your product can do…but why it is important to your customer.

⇨ Learn how to create a brand message

Brand Building Example: TOMS Shoes

TOMS Shoes has built a huge social following and overwhelming positive brand perception.

They clearly define their message front and center on their website: “Improving lives. With every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for One.“

This story is carried out through every touchpoint a consumer has with the brand.

[clickToTweet tweet=”A brand message is an opportunity to communicate on a human level with your consumer. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”A brand message is an opportunity to communicate on a human level, making a direct emotional connection with your consumers.”]

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9. Create a brand logo & tagline.

When you think about how to build a brand, visuals probably come to mind first. We haven’t even talked about these until this deep into the brand building process!

This step may be the one where you need help with creative execution.

The most exciting (and arguably the most important piece) of the brand building process, is to create a brand logo and tagline for your company.

This logo will appear on everything that relates to your business. It will become your identity, calling card, and the visual recognition of your promise.

So be willing to invest the time and money by creating something exceptional to reinforce the visual identity for your business.

Need help branding your business? Hire a professional designer or branding agency with logo and identity design experience, to help make your brand stand out.

Their expertise will ensure that you get a unique and timeless mark for your business.

A designer can also develop brand guidelines, to ensure consistency for any future application of the logo and associated brand color palette or fonts.

A strong brand style guide will include the following things:

• Logo size and placement
• Color palette
• Typography and fonts
• Iconography
• Photography/image style
• Web elements

[clickToTweet tweet=”Work with a professional designer or creative agency with branding and identity design experience to help you build your brand. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Work with a professional designer or creative agency with branding and identity design experience, to help you build your brand.”]

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10. Integrate your brand into every aspect of your business.

The brand building process never stops.

Your brand should be visible and reflected in everything that your customer can see, read, and hear.

Let me explain.

If a client walks into your office, or a customer walks into your store—your brand image should be on display both in the environment and with personal interactions.

Anything tangible–from business cards to advertisements, to packaging and product–needs the stamp of your logo.

On any digital platform, ensure that your brand looks the same everywhere. Use your brand style guide to create consistency with visuals such as color and logo use, fonts, photography, etc.

Your website is the most important tool for marketing your brand. When you design your website: incorporate your voice, message, and personality into the content.

Profile pages for social media networks should be branded visually, and with your chosen voice for engagement.

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READ MORE: 7 Effective Social Media Best Practices for Business

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And don’t forget about video! YouTube, Facebook Video and Facebook Live, Snapchat and Instagram Stories are all platforms that need to have content executed with your unique brand voice and personality.

For those venturing into podcast audio, adhere to a theme that supports your brand message, value, and voice.

Brand Building Examples: Warby Parker

Warby Parker has managed to quickly develop a brand that is unique and best in class. Their innovative product home try-on experience, retail environment, and digital content marketing efforts are perfectly tailored to the lifestyle of its target audience.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Your brand should be visible and reflected in everything that your customer sees (and doesn’t see). #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Your brand should be visible and reflected in everything that your customer sees (and doesn’t see).”]

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11. Stay true to your brand building.

Unless you decide to change your brand into something that is more effective based on measured consumer response, consistency is key.

Refer back to your Brand Strategy whenever you need to make a decision about identity or marketing.

Once you establish a brand voice, use it for every piece of content you create. (See above, Step 6 in the brand building process.)

Document all the brand guidelines you create and distribute internally for reference.

What is brand building worth, if it’s not consistent? Don’t constantly change your branding. The inconsistency will confuse your customers, and make long-term brand building more difficult.

Brand Building Example: Starbucks

Starbucks is the world’s leading specialty coffee retailer, and their brand has always promised to bring people together.

The Starbucks mission?

“To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

That’s why at every store you’ll find free Wi-Fi, large tables, and soothing music to make chatting with others easy. They always write your name on your coffee for an extra personal touch.

Even despite a logo change in 2011 (removing the company name!), the Starbucks brand perception remains strong. When you see that simplified green mermaid logo, what do you feel? I guarantee it’s something.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Once you establish a brand voice, use it for every piece of content you create. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Once you establish a brand voice, use it for every piece of content you create.”]

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Bonus: Be your brand’s biggest advocate.

What does it mean to build a brand?

When you build a brand that works for your small business, you and your employees are the best advocates to market your brand.

No one knows your brand better than you, so it’s up to you to spread the word.

When hiring employees, ensure that they are a culture fit–aligning with the mission, vision, and values of your brand.

Encourage employees to establish a personal brand that aligns with your company brand building process, further strengthening reach.

Give your loyal customers a voice. Encourage them to post reviews, or share your content.

[clickToTweet tweet=”No one knows your brand better than you, so it’s up to you to spread the word. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”No one knows your brand better than you, so it’s up to you to spread the word.”]

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Building Brand Awareness in 2024

Now that you know the key brand building steps, I want to quickly go over the components needed to really set up a good digital foundation to build upon.

These are the key areas my own brand agency executes on when we build brands for businesses just like yours. Let’s review the ways to build brand awareness through marketing, engagement and community building.

Website User Experience

Your website is the most important marketing tool you have for business growth and brand building.

This is the place that your consumers will visit to learn more about your business, and take action when they are ready. Not only does the user experience have to be exceptional in order to convert, but your messaging needs to tell your brand story.

It’s important to have all the right pieces in place when first launching your website, from domain name registration to web hosting, to the right content management system (we recommend WordPress).

Above all:

Your website has to load fast and be mobile-friendly (a responsive web design).

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READ MORE: 5 Most Common Website Design Mistakes to Avoid Right Now

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[click_to_tweet tweet=”One of the most effective long-term ways to increase brand awareness and generate relevant organic traffic to your website, is search engine optimization (SEO) and content.” quote=”One of the most effective long-term ways to increase brand awareness to your website is SEO and content.”]

The majority of your brand marketing activities will drive traffic back to your website. Aside from a professional and beautifully designed interface, your content has to be compelling.

This brings us to the next element of a great digital brand strategy: SEO and content marketing.

SEO and Content Marketing

One of the most effective long-term ways to increase brand awareness and generate relevant organic traffic to your website is search engine optimization (SEO) and the right content.

There are many ways to achieve positioning in search engine results. Aim to develop a comprehensive strategy addressing the major search engine ranking factors, as well as creating highly valuable content that satisfies user intent.

Here’s the deal:

A defined content marketing strategy will help you better connect with your target audience and support them through their customer journey—building brand trust to ultimately result in conversions.

Most importantly, the foundation piece for your SEO and content publishing efforts will always be your website’s blog.

(I’ll bet you didn’t think that blogging was a key component to building a brand.)

When creating a brand blog, you’ll want to consider:

• Which content will resonate with your target audience?
• How will the content get found in organic search results?
• When is the optimal frequency and scheduling of publishing?
• What is the plan for promoting the content?

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READ MORE: How to Build a Successful Blog for Your Business

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Don’t just stop at a blog though! Brand content can also exist as infographics, video, podcasting, case studies, whitepapers, lead magnets and more.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Savvy consumers frequently use social networks to make the decision to purchase from a brand—over 74% of them! #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Savvy consumers frequently use social networks to make the decision to purchase from a brand—over 74% of them!”]

Social Media Marketing

Savvy consumers frequently use social networks to make the decision to purchase from a brand—over 74% of them!

How can your brand best educate, communicate and engage with customers and clients through social media?

Social media marketing best practices include the following activities:

• Curating relevant content
• Publishing original content
• Engagement and community building
• Paid advertising

A well-defined social media strategy will help determine what to achieve in order to better connect with your community.

Every brand should be represented consistently across all social media networks via the posting of relevant, high-quality content. With social media, your aim for consumers is first to gain trust. Then become loyal. And then, advocate for your brand’s products and services.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Your highest CTR will come from the emails you send to your list! Do not underestimate the power of list building early on in your brand building process. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Your highest click-through rate will come from the emails you send to your list! Don’t underestimate the power of list building early on.”]

Email Marketing

Did you know your highest click-through rate will come from the emails you send to your list? Don’t underestimate the power of list building early on in your brand building process.

Think of your email marketing list as your most close-knit community, and treat your subscribers as such.

You can build a brand subscriber list through various opt-in forms on your website, such as:

• Pop Ups
• Sidebars
• Scroll Mats
• Slide-ins
• Lead magnet forms
• Landing page forms

The right content, at the right time, to the right person is critical for driving traffic to your website and increasing conversions from email. What’s more, not all email messages need to be sales-driven, as consumers are in different points of the buyer journey.

Use the following types of email campaigns when targeting specific audiences within your marketing funnel.

• Promotional (standard/seasonal)
• Non-promotional (blog)
• Newsletter
• Welcome series
• Drip campaign
• Cart abandonment (ecommerce)

Email is king when data proves that email marketing efforts have an average ROI of $44 for each $1 spent!

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Analytics reporting should always support the strategic #brand building goals and KPIs for your #brandstrategy. ” quote=”Analytics reporting should always support the strategic brand building goals and KPIs for your business. “]

Paid Advertising

Building a successful paid advertising campaign for your brand comes with a unique set of challenges. There are multiple elements that contribute to the overall effectiveness of your pay-per-click (PPC) ads.

A strong paid ads campaign on platforms such as Google Ads or Facebook relies heavily on:

• Smart paid advertising goals
• A well-defined target audience
• Clear organization / campaign structure
• Tracking performance meticulously
• Compelling creative copy and design
• Split-testing for optimization
• Using the right keywords

Always remember:

Paid advertising alone can drain your budget…once the ads stop, so can the leads and sales.

The allure of paid advertising is that it can yield quick short-term results. It is certainly effective, however, you’ll want to do PPC in conjunction with all of the above inbound marketing channels for long-term ROI.

Analytics & Reporting

Ongoing, you’ll want to monitor progress in key areas month-over-month and year-over-year. From this data, tweaks to your brand building and marketing activity can be made to leverage those tactics which show the most opportunity.

Analytics reporting should always support the strategic goals and KPIs for your business.

It always comes as a huge surprise that 75% of small business sites do not use analytics tools to track performance!

Your first step is ensuring that your website has Google Analytics installed. This tool is free and will give you loads of valuable information about user behaviors. It also allows you to set up goals to track conversion.

[clickToTweet tweet=”What’s your brand mission? Craft a clear expression of what your business is passionate about. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”What’s your brand mission? Craft a clear expression of what your company is most passionate about.”]

Now you have a great overview of the tactics behind building brand awareness through marketing, engagement and community building.

Putting all these components together with a strategy and consistent execution packs the punch that any new or existing business needs for successful brand building in the digital age.

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Tools For Building A Business Brand

Branding can be a fuzzy concept. It seems touchy-feely, and it revolves around perception, purpose, and promises.

Can it even be tracked? Is there ROI?

In the long-term, heck yes! Because building a strong brand will automatically increase your know, like and trust factor. In turn, resulting in easier sales, consumer loyalty and brand advocacy.

I believe what Gary Vaynerchuck says about it:

“Funny thing about brand. If you actually build a brand, you outsell any salesman any day of the week.”

Now:

If you have a business, you already have a brand.

But building an extraordinary business brand requires organization, planning, and process.

You’ve learned the fundamental brand building process here. The next thing to cover are tools, resources, and services that can elevate the growth of your business as a brand.

This list is by no means comprehensive but will help you take things to the next level of brand development.

These are some of the same tools we use for client work, and our own branding agency. In fact, we use all of them!

(Some of these may be affiliate links, for which we receive a small commission at NO cost to you.)

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Books
If you’re a bookworm like me and want to dive deeper into an understanding of branding steps, read these books.

Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story

Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide For The Whole Branding Team

Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen

The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes

There are SO many other books related to the brand building process and brand marketing, but I don’t want to overwhelm you. So I’ll leave it for another roundup article!

Workshop – Branding Masterclass
Learn how to create a powerful blueprint that will transform your business into an extraordinary brand (…so that you win the hearts and minds of your ideal customers, over and over again)!

The Building Your Brand Strategy Masterclass will change the way you look at your business, giving you clarity and more confidence for why your brand exists and how it can best serve people. ENROLL TODAY

Accounting – FreshBooks
Try FreshBooks for your accounting software to reduce paperwork and get paid faster. It’s so simple to use—you’ll be able to generate invoices, organize expenses and track time. They offer a free trial and affordable pricing models. Organizing and recording financials is super important right now. It’s a good time to level up on your accounting.

Email, Calendar, Documents – Google Workspace
You need a properly branded email address, for more recognition when you land in people’s inbox. No more Yahoo, Hotmail, or [email protected]! Google provides businesses with a full suite of software products called Google Workspace. It will allow you to create a customized Gmail email address with your domain name (see below for more info on domain registration). In addition, you get the Google Calendar features AND a bunch of storage on Google Drive with access to docs, sheets, presentations and forms. Well worth it, check out the plans!

Office Supplies & Equipment – Amazon Business
You may shop on Amazon already or have a Prime account. But did you know you can shop for your brand through Amazon Business? I like keeping all business purchases together in this account area. They also offer big discounts, free shipping and a tax exemption program.

Print Materials – Moo
This online printing company offers beautiful business cards, stationary and promotional collateral for reasonable prices. And, Moo products look very high-end. You want the first impression for your brand to be spectacular, so order your printed materials here. You can even order sample packs delivered to you for free.

Free Design Tool – Canva
Thousands of design templates, millions of photos. Whether you have design skills or not, Canva is our choice for asset creation and management of brand graphics. This tool is especially great for creating consistently branded social media graphics. Try a free 30-day trial of Canva Pro, which has so many more features you’ll want over the basic version (like one-click image resize, background remover and brand kits)!

Stock Photography – Shutterstock
If you really want your branding to stand out, it’s better to dig through a paid stock photo site to find visual assets. You’ll have less of a chance of looking like someone else who used photos from a free site. Shutterstock offers millions of good quality photos, illustrations, videos, and music, without paying a ton.

Writing Assistant – Grammarly
The impression of your brand through copy and messaging is ultra-important for a strong identity. And you will have to be pumping out content consistently for your brand. Grammarly has been a game-changer for producing the best quality written content. It not only checks spelling as you write, but also major grammar issues. Don’t compromise your reputation with bad writing. Get this free tool!

Domain Registration – Siterack
The first step in creating a website for your brand is registering the domain (the .com, .net, etc.). You can search available domains to find the best match for your brand name and then secure it free for 1 year by purchasing Siterack. Even if you are in the early stages of planning your brand, invest in this if you have a brand name. Domain names are getting snatched up by the minute.

WordPress Hosting and Security – Siterack

We build the majority of our client’s websites on WordPress. When you have a content management system with databases and plugins, it’s best to have web hosting that specifically caters to the platform. Siterack specifically provides managed WordPress hosting with amazing customer support. With Siterack, you don’t have to worry about backups, upgrades, monitoring, or technical support for your WordPress website. We do that all for you behind the scenes while you focus on growing your brand.

Online Course Platform + Website – Kajabi
The online course industry is booming and expected to reach $335 billion by 2025. Want your slice of the pie? Then it’s time to get your digital course up and running. Apart from the content, there are really only 3 tools you need to launch a successful course–an email service provider, a place to host your course like Kajabi, and a way to take payments. Sign up to try Kajabi free for 28 days!

Ecommerce Websites – Shopify
For brands that sell products, the easiest and fastest way to get set up is by trying Shopify. This is a subscription-based software service that offers a website with built-in shopping cart solution. Start your free 14-day trial today.

Search Engine Optimization – SEMRush
This is one of the best SEM and SEO tools out there. If you are looking to ramp up your brand awareness through carefully crafted content on your website (specifically your blog), use SEMRush for research on competitors, trending content, and keywords. Try the free extended 14-day trial and you’ll be hooked on how powerful this is for brand marketing.

Social Media Scheduling (Instagram & Pinterest) – Tailwind
For those brands with lots of visual content, Tailwind is the best scheduling tool we’ve used for posting photos to Instagram and pinning content on Pinterest. Not only does it help with executing your content editorial calendar, but you’re able to measure progress with actionable insights. They have a free trial, so you can take a test drive!

Email Marketing – ConvertKit
One of the most important things to start doing for your brand marketing from the get-go, is to build an email list. Once that email list starts growing, connect with the audience there! Email campaigns are the best way to do this, and ConvertKit is a tool that can help. It has email templates and an editor that makes it easy to create, customize, and send professional emails to engage your customers. No coding or stress necessary!

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Conclusion: On The Path To Branding Your Business

Branding can be one of the most significant things you can do for your new or existing business.

A solid brand building process can transform your business from a small player into a successful competitor.

You’ll discover that your customers will develop a deeper level of trust for your brand, and be more likely to purchase what you are selling.

Therefore, you need to develop a consistent message and visual identity to reinforce your mission.

Integrate your brand into every aspect of customer experience: from your storefront to your website, to your personal interactions!

Above all, always start by developing your Brand Strategy first.

Think you are well-informed about how to build a brand? Let’s recap the steps of the brand building process:

How to Build a Brand

1. Discover the purpose behind your brand.
2. Research competitor brands within your industry.
3. Determine your brand’s target audience.
4. Establish a brand mission statement.
5. Outline the key qualities and benefits your brand offers.
6. Form your brand voice.
7. Let your brand personality shine.
8. Build a brand story and messaging.
9. Create a brand logo and tagline.
10. Integrate your brand into every aspect of your business.
11. Stay true to your brand building.

Bonus: Be your brand’s biggest advocate.

I’ll leave you with another one of my favorite quotes about building brands:

[clickToTweet tweet=”Former @Nike & @Starbucks executive @ScottBedbury said: ‘A brand is a story always being told’. #branding #brandstrategy” quote=”Former Nike and Starbucks executive Scott Bedbury once said: ‘A brand is a story always being told’.”]

Go build an effective brand, and tell your story.

Which brands do you think succeed the most in their brand building process?

Share your comments or questions below!

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FreshSparks is a branding agency specializing in brand strategy, brand identity, and brand marketing. We can help you excel with your positioning, point of view, and presentation to make an impact on the right people from awareness to conversion to retention. It’s the perfect mix of building a long-term brand with purpose so that you can make a profit.

Book a consultation to learn more.

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