Are you starting a new business? Rebranding an existing company? Wherever you are in your branding journey, you need to know how to effectively develop your brand in 2023. Why? Because branding is an ongoing journey that evolves alongside your customer and communicates who you are and what your business stands for! It determines if your business sinks or swims with many other fish in the sea. Use the following tips to hone your branding, and/or hire a brand development agency like Charm School to help!
What is Branding?
Before we get too far into business development strategy and branding, let’s talk about what we mean by “branding.” Your company’s branding communicates its personality. It’s what people think about when they hear your brand’s name or see your logo.
Branding encompasses every part of your brand’s identity—from your brand’s logo design to its style guide, packaging, store appearance, and more. Every detail of your branding, from the typography you choose to the photos you use, is a part of your brand experience and should reflect your brand’s vibe and values.
Why is Branding Important?
Looks matter! So do words. And people want to buy from brands that make them think, feel, and look a certain way. If your brand’s image helps customers look and feel the way they want, they’ll buy from you.
Branding helps your business:
- Make a Statement. Branding is like an outfit: it immediately tells another person about your personality and style.
- Differentiate. Branding sets your business apart from the competition. Think about the various options when you buy a tube of toothpaste. There are dozens! So, you associate a name, colors, and promises with the brand you know you prefer. You look for a brand that speaks to you.
Branding helps your company stand out and show how it’s different from competitors. These differences are how buyers form preferences and even how you determine things like price point.
How to Effectively Develop Your Brand in 2023
If you’re reading this post, you’re either just starting with brand development or trying to strengthen your branding in the upcoming year. The following advice will help no matter where you are in your branding journey!
1. Consider Your Overall Goals
What do you want to achieve with your business? How do you want to set yourself apart in the market? Having clear business goals gives you a solid foundation to build your brand upon.
2. Hire a Brand Development Agency
Charm School has helped dozens of startups and companies brand and rebrand. We’re experts in getting to know your ideal audience, mission, and vision to bring your ideas to life. If other branding agencies or graphic designers haven’t “gotten you,” give us a shout! We’re always able to translate thoughts, feelings, and emotions into graphics and language that speak to your business’s essence. And we have the track record to prove it! We also offer business consulting to organize your overall business strategy and marketing efforts.
Of course, you can try your hand at logo design or hire a freelancer, too. But, buy nice or buy twice is always what we say when it comes to branding!
3. Research Your Target Market
In order to resonate with your audience, you need to understand who they are and what they want. An SEO audit and competitive research can help you accomplish this! Once you have identified your demographic—and ensured a demand in the marketplace—you can tailor your branding to this buyer persona.
4. Know Your Competition
Identify your key competitors to determine how you can differentiate your branding and messaging so your business stands out. Doing so will help you carve out a niche in the industry and win over market share.
5. Choose Your Positioning Wisely
What makes your brand unique? Is it company culture, manufacturing, your leadership, your attitude? How do you want to be perceived by customers? For instance, Charm School is a digital marketing agency—one that specializes in women-owned businesses, health and wellness, and sustainable brands. Our branding reflects this! Yours should reflect whatever makes up the heart and soul of your business.
6. Develop Your Brand Style Guide
Once you have a plan in place, it’s time to create your brand style guide! This part of the process brings your brand name, colors, photography guidelines, logo, fonts, and editorial style guide to life in a cohesive document. You can then use this brand book to keep your messaging and visuals consistent across marketing channels. It’s a book your entire staff and marketing agency can refer back to when writing content or creating visuals for your business.
7. Launch Your New Branding
Make a big debut and announcement with a press release and social media posts, or roll out your new branding alongside your new website. However you choose to launch your new branding, do so across every single brand touchpoint. From this point on, every email, social media caption, package, and direct mail piece needs to include your updated branding. Otherwise, you’ll confuse customers.
8. Evolve as Necessary
Great branding should last your business years and years; it should be something that grows with you. That being said, businesses must evolve or die. Revisit your branding any time you launch a new product, see business stagnation, or loss in sales. You may need to modernize language or update visuals to stay relevant in your industry.
Not sure where to begin with your branding? Our brand development agency would love to help! Contact us today to set up a free consultation.
