Branding is no doubt one of the most important steps to take for marketing your business. Creating consistency, brand recognition and a visual face for your company are just a few of the reasons branding is important. However, have you ever wondered how to create not only a brand, but a powerful brand? Having a brand and creating something powerful that is effective are two different things. It’s also not as easy as creating a killer logo or social media presence. Read on for some steps and principles behind creating something powerful.

Understand your value & worth.

We aren’t talking about your profit or income here. Understanding your value and worth is much more than what you make. These aspects are based on what you bring to the table for your audience. It’s important to brand your company based on what you can do successfully for your clients. They need to find value in your services or products. In order to properly position your company and figure out the worth of your services or products, some market research is in order. You need to know what problems a client is facing so you can be a part of the solution.

Play a game of show, not tell.

It’s one thing to tell your audience why they should choose you, your business or products and services, but it’s a whole different thing to show them. This could be something as simple as putting together a presentation based on hard data showing how you have solved problems or benefited other customers. It could also be having an impressive portfolio, social media account or website of your work. People are more convinced of the value of something when they see proof via data versus just promises on paper.

Understand your customer and their wants + needs.

One of the best things you can do to make your brand a powerhouse is to appeal to the right people/market. Conducting a brand audit will assist with this. Some questions to ask and answer are:

  • Who is your audience?
  • What do they do?
  • Why and when are they buying?
  • What is their end goal?

If you can answer these questions, you have a great idea on how to appeal to this market. The other thing to consider is more specifically who you should be appealing to. Sure, you have your market tagged down, but do you have a specific person in mind? While your brand should be seen as powerful and useful to your whole market, it really needs to target the decision makers of your audience. The people who make the final decisions beed to see your value. This could be business owners, managers, etc.

Establish your business as the best choice.

Make it your goal to become the Cadillac of your industry. There is a reason big name brands are seen as the best choice. Generally speaking, their cost is well worth their value. Not only have they marketed themselves this way, but they follow through on their words. Again, show your audience, don’t just tell them. One of the best ways to do this is keep every promise you make and be able to back up everything you market with data. If you market a solution, you have to be able to prove that you can deliver.

We would love to hear your tactics on how you make your brand a powerhouse in the comments!