5 Questions You Should Ask When Creating Your Brand

An article by Lakesha Womack    4 Comments

When starting a business it is easy to become overwhelmed by the multitude of tasks before you. Not only do you have to legally establish the business, you have to find a location to operate from, you have to create accounting processes but most of all you have to service your customers.

Branding is often one of the areas in business that receives the least amount of attention and financial resources because many business owners do not realize how having a cohesive branding strategy affects the success of their business. Yes, it important for you to have a great product or service but if no one knows who you are then how will you become successful?

I encourage businesses, especially small businesses, to make managing their brand image one of their primary projects and an area that they revisit regularly to keep it fresh.
Here are five questions that you should ask when creating your brand.

1. Is my brand consistent?

I have seen businesses that have one look for their business cards, another look for their website and yet another for the actual location of the business. Maintaining consistency will help to create that “ah ha” moment for your client. They can easily remember that you are the same business whose card they picked up at a networking mixer, whose website they came across in a Facebook feed and whose store they are now standing in. Making sure that the look and feel is consistent across the board is essential.

You should first consider your color scheme. I recommend that my clients choose up to four colors – a base (black, white, cream or brown), a primary (your main color), a complimentary color and an accent color (silver or gold). Then you should consider whether you want a traditional, modern, whimsical or conservative look which will influence which fonts and designs you use. Once these decisions are made, they should be used consistently in all of your marketing materials.

2. Is your logo easily recognizable?

Can you imagine where McDonalds, Target, Rolex or Best Buy would be without a logo? The images that represent their business, whether a symbol or the way their business name is spelled out, allows consumers to easily recognize their business even when they do not have time to read the entire name.

Many small business owners mistakenly believe that creating a logo is extremely expensive; however, it should be considered a long-term investment. This image will represent your business when you are not around and potential customers will make assumptions about the quality of your product/service based on the quality of the image that serves as your representative.

Having a logo is essential if you want to stand out in the minds of your customers. While out shopping the other day, my five year old son said, “Look Mom, there’s Verizon.” Although I consider him my little genius, I am smart enough to know that he cannot read that well. However, he was able to associate the red check in the Verizon logo with the commercials that he had seen on television. Does your business have an image that is easily recognizable by your customers?

3. Who are you talking to and what are you saying?

Have you considered who your primary target market is? Who is the main group of people that your product/service will be targeted to? Who is your secondary market? Is there a third group that you will target? Although you may have a product that “everyone” can use, it is beneficial to have these groups identified and separated.

Once you have a clear idea of what imagine will represent your business and who you are talking to, you have to figure out what to say. Not every message will work for everyone. Often times when we create marketing pieces, we use the same language on all of the pieces and assume that the message will compel anyone who sees it to want to patronize our business. This is not always the case.

One of my favorite examples to cite is a cell phone company. Although cell phones can be used by teen-aged girls and middle-aged men, we all know that these two groups process information in different ways, they receive information from different sources and they have different uses for the same product. When considering your target markets, do not make the mistake of assuming that one message will fit all.

4. What is your budget?

I am firm believer that nothing in life worth having is free. Although I am always on the lookout for good deals, I know that I have to pay for quality products. Before you dismiss the idea of branding because you think you cannot afford it, sit down and consider how much of your business budget you can devote to this long-term investment.

If you do not have a lot of time then you may need to invest more money in hiring someone to assist you. If you do not have a lot of money then you may need to invest more of your time in market research and learning to do graphic design. Be mindful that you do not have to spend a lot to get quality products but do not expect professionals to work for free. Businesses typically should budget around 5% of their anticipated revenue into marketing and branding their business.

5. Last but not least, where are you positioning your brand?

Social media and online technology has prompted most businesses to create Twitter account, Facebook pages, YouTube channels, blogs and websites. On the other hand, many traditional media sources such as radio, print magazines and newspapers have become less popular.
When deciding when and where to position your brand, you should not focus on what is hot now but where “your” customers are getting their information? Using our cell phone example, you would consider that the teen-aged girls are more involved in social media, will respond to fresh, catchy phrases while middle-aged men are more likely to purchase business publications and might prefer informational messages.

The business of branding is essential to your success. Take the time to consider the answers to these five questions and create a strategy that speaks directly to your target audience.

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