86% of consumers cite brand authenticity as a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support. And another study found that 81% of consumers need to trust a brand before committing to buying from them.
It’s more than clear that building a brand is an integral part of success. Customers want to know who they are buying from and want to be able to trust the brand if they are going to choose them over more established brands like Amazon. What’s more, they need to feel that the brand aligns with their ideals and values, which promotes brand loyalty and gives more purpose to the relationship.
But despite the clear advantages of having a strong brand, many companies struggle with finding the right approach when developing a unique and appealing brand.
To help you avoid some of the more common pitfalls, let’s explore the main steps that go into building a strong brand that you can maintain and use to drive sales.
Leverage Social Media
Social media remains a vital part of promoting and growing a business online. And with the number of social media users set to reach almost four billion in 2022, that’s not surprising.
However, while it’s great for generating sales and engaging your audience, it can be equally powerful as a tool for building your brand presence and establishing a strong brand voice.
After all, social media is all about communication, as it’s the perfect place to interact with your audience, nurture direct conversations, and showcase what makes your brand different from others.
Many brands have been able to grow Instagram followers by creating unique content around their products and services, emphasizing the brand’s voice and style, which the target audience found appealing and aligned with their own identity.
The same can be achieved on almost any social media platform, as long as you understand how to use it for showcasing your brand and connecting with your audience.
Over time, your social media platforms can become a hub for your audience to interact not just with your brand but with each other as well. And that sense of community will make the appeal of your brand experience stronger.
Make Employees Your Brand Ambassadors
Getting your customers to share positive experiences is a crucial part of running a successful business. But that’s not the only way you can use people’s genuine experiences to showcase what your brand is all about.
Your company is not a faceless business entity but a collection of people who come together to provide the best possible service to clients and achieve success in the process. Therefore, why not put those people in the spotlight and allow them to talk about what your brand is about, who the people are behind it, and what types of ideas and values they represent.
You can also get ideas about how to position your brand by conducting employee surveys. Your team members are the people who deal with clients every day, and they also know how the company operates better than anyone else. So if you ask them what they think would represent the company best and the core values they believe should be put forward, you could gain valuable insights that help you create a more authentic brand that resonates with the people you are trying to attract.
Know Your Audience by Heart
Audience research is complex and takes a lot of time, which is why many business owners end up relying more on assumptions about who they want to sell to rather than hard data they can back up with research.
But when trying to build a memorable brand that’s different from the competition, assumptions simply won’t cut it. And usually, the companies that invest more in customer research end up on top simply because they create a brand that’s more appealing, engaging, and in line with the core values that the customers are looking for.
But what exactly should you research if you want to get to know your ideal buyers?
Well, the first step is developing a customer avatar based on the ideal buyers you want to attract. This avatar should lay out the key demographics, psychographics, browsing habits, core values, biggest challenges, and other relevant data that will help you make informed decisions about your brand.
You should also look into what your competitors are doing and how they’re positioning themselves, which can help you identify gaps and opportunities for branding that others might not be using.
Finally, make sure to talk with your customers directly and ask them what they like, don’t like, and place importance on when choosing who to work with. Usually, direct conversations with customers will provide you the most value, even if they take the most effort to organize.
Bottom Line
Building a brand is an integral part of running a successful company. Without a strong brand presence, it’s almost impossible to compete with more established companies, not to mention industry giants like Amazon or Walmart.
The good news is that if you leverage social media, put a face to your brand, and get to know your audience well, you can build a brand that’s aligned with your audience, making marketing and sales much easier.
