Building a brand for your small business is a challenging task. First, many small business owners in Nigeria don’t know much about branding or they are a little bit misled on what branding means. Some don’t even know what branding is all about. Many business owners don’t really know that branding is an integral part of their business that must be continually invested in. The reason why some big businesses with and outside Nigeria thrive is that they have transformed their businesses into a brand. The brand is how people perceive you wherever they interact with your business—both the impressions you can control and the ones you can’t. Even as humans, we can have a personal brand. In this article, I am going to show you seven ways to build and sustain a brand for your business.
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Know Your Target Audience
Before you set out to build a brand for your business, understand who are your potential customers. To know your ideal customers you must identify the demography your potential customers fall under. These are what to consider: Age, gender, income, education level, and location.
Know Your Competitors
Knowing your competitor will the opportunity to know what they are doing, their mission and vision statements, and if possible their strategies. Armed with information about your competitors you can better craft a better message to your audience, offer better services and introduce a new dimension to the industry.
Give Your Brand A Personality
Your brand should be animated and attracted with the messages it constantly passes across to everyone. For example, everyone knows that Apple Inc. gadgets are so topnotch that it is only afforded by people of class. Another example is Dell, which is known for its durability. Another is Qatar Airways is known for its luxury and quality service. Let people know your business or service for something, especially nice.
Choose Your Business Name
Choose a business name that is very relatable, easy to pronounce and most especially a name that can be able to convey the identity of your product. Although, many companies are named after their owners. However, you must have enough financial muscle to promote your brand with your name or you must have been influential enough to use your name. In choosing a business name, Steve Jobs named his company “Apple” after Isaac Newton’s Law of Gravity, which was discovered under an apple tree.
Have A Slogan
Your slogan must be catchy and must be able to send a message to your audience. Slogans ought to be witty, metaphoric, rhythmic, confident and bold. It is advisable that your slogan should be short. For example, Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It!” sends a message of daringness and adventure.
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Choose the look of your brand (colours and font)
Choosing colours for your brand is one way to have your brand on your customer’s mind for a long time. Your colour should reflect your emotions and may be able to evoke the emotions of your audience. Stay consistent with your colour until it becomes synonymous with your business. For example, the colour of Guaranteed Trust Bank is orange, white and ash. Google’s colour is red, blue, yellow, and green. When you ask the question of what colours your business is, people should be able to tell you instantly. It is advisable to choose colours that are different from that of your competitors in order not to confuse your customers.
Design your logo
A logo is the face of your company. It must be simple, infographic, and must be able to represent the values of your company and convey a message to your audience. Logos could be alphabets, mascots, objects and so on. Your logo must be seen at both your onsite presences and online presences. Your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn pages’ profile pictures must be your logo.
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