You’ve worked hard to prepare your startup for launch. You invested your blood sweat and tears in developing every other piece of your business, and you need to do the same in establishing your brand. Your brand is your message to the public about your new business. It captures everything that makes your company unique to your target market, including your values as a company, so you need to get it right. Don’t let your startup fizzle out early because you didn’t fully develop your brand identity. Below are five essential branding secrets that every startup needs to know to build a brand successfully.
- Be Memorable
If you don’t want your brand to be lost in the sea of competition you need to do something that makes you memorable. If you want your target market to see your brand and remember you consistently, consider creating some quality promotional products they can’t ignore. The more creative and unique the item, the more memorable your business becomes.
- Invest in your Logo
Your logo doesn’t have to reflect your industry, but it should reflect your company’s desired purpose. A great logo is simple, meaningful and clearly linked to your brand. Shape, font, and color play a significant role, but your logo shouldn’t lose anything if it is printed in black and white. If you’re struggling to create a killer logo, don’t be afraid to experiment with a few ideas and see which one gains more traction with your target consumer.
- Connect Meaningfully
The best thing you can do to help your new business gain traction is to be authentic and connect meaningfully. Think through ways you can make your brand more personal and create an emotional connection. Engage your audience through illustration, social issues or even politics (as appropriate to your business). Consider housing your website on a domain that’s not a name but rather a phrase that resonates with your target audience. If you’re stuck for ideas, write down all the brands that are meaningful to you and find common threads that you can implement in your own business.
- Find Your Target Market
If you’re going to successfully reach your target market, your brand needs to become a familiar entity in those online or physical locations where they spend their time. Find a way for your brand to become an accepted part of the conversation in these locations through promotions or the power of influencers.
- Wield your Website
Your website is one of the most potent pieces of your business, so it should capture your brand perfectly. The font and colors should match your logo. The voice of your brand should be conveyed in every sentence that’s written. If you have a playful connection with your target customer, your website should mirror that tone. Review every page of your site down to the tiniest detail because it’s your best salesperson that works tirelessly for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you don’t feel comfortable with your website skills, outsource this work to a talented designer to ensure that your brand message is not lost because your website is unreadable on someone’s smartphone.
Give your startup the brand identity it deserves. Invest in creating the right logo to capture your business values and purpose and wield it effectively on your website. Find your target market and create a brand voice that connects meaningfully with them. And lastly, strive to be memorable in everything that you do.
