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Building a business is one thing. But building a brand is a whole different story. And speaking of stories, that’s precisely what you need to focus on. The reason for this is quite simple. Today, customers are much more discerning about which businesses they support.
They follow, engage, and buy from businesses that match their values and beliefs. It’s no longer the cut-and-dry go-to-buy scenario. Instead, it’s an experience through engagement with and support for like-minded businesses.
If you’re about to launch a business and haven’t paid much attention to your marketing strategy, now is the time to sit up and take notice. Branding your business will go a long way to helping your bottom line. But how do you do this successfully? Let’s explore your options in more detail below.
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What is a brand, and why do you need to build one?
Let’s get back to basics. Every business owner knows that there are two primary “vehicles” for business ownership: those with personal liability for the owner (sole proprietorships) and those without (LLC, corporations, etc.). In general, a business is a separate entity. It has its own business account, income and expenses, clientele, and persona.
This persona needs to shine through in your marketing efforts. That’s where branding enters the picture. Many people think of a brand as just the official colors of a business, which may include a logo and a tagline.
While this is true to some extent, it’s not the whole story. A brand is the persona that the business takes on in public life.
Branding is its voice when engaging with its customers, partners, suppliers, and stakeholders. It is consistency in messaging. It is a continued dedication to upholding its mission and vision. Branding goes beyond the color palette. It’s about bringing your business to life for people.
An increasingly important tool in branding today is AI ads, which allow companies to target and personalize advertisements at scale. Using AI-driven campaigns, businesses can ensure that their brand message reaches the right audience with precision, maximizing engagement and minimizing costs.
In the not-too-distant past, the modern practice of branding was a far-off thought. However, many owners today see a lot of value in branding their business. Examples of some of the benefits that correct and consistent branding can offer include:
- Acts as a differentiator between your business and the competition
- Maximizes the effectiveness of new product launches
- Higher advertising effectiveness and lower ad costs
- Greater business expertise, credibility, and trust
- Creates a stronger competitive advantage
- Increased customer loyalty and retention
- Contributes to word of mouth marketing
- Attracts more qualified talent
- Better brand recognition
- Lower price sensitivity
- Boosts revenue
Understanding your brand
There are many excellent reasons for building a brand. But how do solopreneurs, owners, or their marketing teams get started? Setting your brand up for success begins when you identify your brand values, mission, and vision and study your target audience.
Identifying brand values, mission, and vision
Many companies have a mission statement on their website. But these are often outdated and generic. Words like “unique” and “innovative” are a dime a dozen. Instead, give your mission statement some life and avoid using words that mean nothing to your readers.
Use language that your audience will understand. Add personality. And do it right off the bat. That means keeping it short and simple, in less than 100 words.
Your business vision statement describes where you see your business in the future. What impact do you want to have on your customers and community? Make it fresh and engaging. Again, keep it short and simple.
We spoke about the mission and vision statements. But what about your business’s values? These are the underlying principles that drive your business forward. They should infiltrate every element of your internal and external communication with everyone whose life your business touches. Seeking feedback from trusted business mentors can also help ensure these statements reflect your goals and resonate with your audience.
Analyzing your target audience
Next, we look at the need to identify and analyze your target audience. Whether you’ve created a product or a service to sell, one thing is certain: not everyone is your ideal customer.
The reason is simple. People are intrinsically different from each other, with different needs, interests, and circumstances. So, when you’re studying your target audience, make sure you keep these factors in mind:
Then, pinpoint commonalities across each of these areas and narrow them down. For example, your target audience may consist of women aged 35 to 45. They live in London, are working parents, and have a partner in the household who supplements their income. However, the deeper you go, the better your content targeting.
Role of content in building a brand
Content informs and educates your target audience while adding value to your brand. Whether through helpful blog articles or social media posts, content marketing plays a leading role in influencing brand perception.
With around 7.5 million blog posts posted daily, it’s clear that businesses understand the key part long-form content plays in content strategy. Meeting users’ search intent queries is crucial to being found online.
By providing value to their customers through content, businesses build the authority of their brand. There are many ways to do this, including:
- Quoting subject matter experts (SMEs) in blog posts
- Offering comprehensive content like ebooks
- Making your content shareable
- Answering FAQs
- And more
Content strategies for building a brand
Building a brand requires effort and consistency. Some actionable steps you can take include developing a content plan, creating quality content, and leveraging the power of storytelling. Let’s take a look at each of these approaches below.
Developing a content plan
All great things begin with a plan. And content is no different. But what is content? Is it just words on a page or does it go beyond this? Well, web content includes both words and visuals, including video and audio.
With various content options, you can start setting content goals for each piece of content you produce. These goals can be attached to specific metrics, such as driving traffic to your website or boosting engagement. Ultimately, you want to be able to measure the impact of your content online.
The other trick is to be consistent. You need to post regularly. Depending on the content type, this can mean twice a week or twice a month.
For example, scheduling two social media posts per week may be a good starting point. These posts are much faster to create than videos. So, depending on your resources, video content can be less frequent.
Ideally, you should create a content calendar where you keep track of all current and upcoming content plans and ideas. This way, you’ll be able to maintain online consistency, which will help build your brand.
Creating high-quality, relevant content
If you’ve done some research about content marketing online, you would have heard one message repeated: You need to create quality content that offers high value. But how do you know what is valuable and what makes for quality content? Here are some ideas to help you.
Firstly, quality content does not contain fluff. Avoid adverbs or use them sparingly. Be economical with your words. If you can say one thing in as few words as possible, do that instead of writing long-winded sentences.
Secondly, sentences should be no more than two lines long, and paragraphs should be between three and four lines long. Some exceptions apply, of course. Also, avoid using stop words in your headings and subheadings.
Furthermore, avoid the passive voice as much as possible. It’s also not a good idea to begin sentences with a dependent clause. Instead, switch the clauses around. As for value, make sure you emphasize the benefits of what you’re talking about so that the reader can see what’s in it for them.
Lastly, it’s important to ensure your content maintains authenticity and relevance, especially as AI-generated content becomes more common. You can make use of AI content detection tools like the Attrock AI Content Detector to help you identify AI-written fluff, ensuring your content remains valuable and human-centric.
Whether it’s video storytelling, a podcast, a social media post, an infographic, or a blog article, one thing is certain — adding value and answering the question “What’s in it for me?” should be your guiding light.
Creating infographics, for instance, allows you to convey complex ideas in a visually engaging and easily digestible format, making your content more appealing to your audience. By focusing on clarity and relevance, you can ensure your message resonates and leaves a lasting impression.
Leveraging storytelling
We started this article by mentioning how important your brand story is. Now, let’s dive in a bit deeper. Storytelling holds a lot of power. That’s because it draws people in and makes them listen to you.
So, how do you create a story? It’s about using analogies, examples, and, of course, stories themselves to promote your brand and make your content come alive. This is done by weaving emotions in your words so that people stand up and take notice.
Distributing and promoting your content
You now have a content plan and calendar, high-quality content ready, and storytelling woven into it. What now? Does your content merely sit on your website, hoping to be discovered? Not necessarily.
To position it to succeed, you need to take proactive steps to promote your content far and wide. You can do this using your social media platforms, email channel, and collaboration with influencers. Let’s examine each one in more detail.
- Utilizing social media platforms
To use social media platforms and maximize your chances of success, you need to know which ones are best for your brand. Different platforms cater to different audiences. For instance, if you are a software-as-a-service (SaaS) brand, you should focus on professional platforms like LinkedIn.
For consumer products and services, consider Facebook and Instagram. Also, bear in mind the ideal character limits of these platforms, as X (formerly Twitter) only enables you to catch attention with a few words.
Ultimately, you need to go back to your target audience analysis and figure out where your audience “hangs out” the most. Doing this will enable you to choose the right platforms and not waste your efforts. Aimlessly posting is not advisable. It’s always good to plan ahead (which we covered earlier).
- Email marketing strategies
Email is another excellent platform for sharing your valuable content. It’s been shown to offer great potential for reach and a targeted approach. Promoting your content through email means reaching people who want to hear from you.
It starts with creating a lead magnet full of valuable information in exchange for an email address. Once you’ve collected and built your list up, you can start sending your prospects newsletters, special offers, sharing previews or highlights, teasers, and more.
- Collaborations and influencer partnerships
Another way you can spread the word about your content is by having others do it for you. Building relationships in your industry is part of doing business. There are many benefits to having influential people create and share your content. However, remember that it’s a two-way street.
Influencers don’t work for free, but many will work in exchange for products. Also, remember that influencers come in different levels: nano, micro, macro, and mega. In fact, 44% of marketers prefer micro-influencers due to the cost-benefit ratio involved. Work with the appropriate ones for your business, audience, and budget.
Finding influencers and building partnerships takes time and research. You must determine which people are prominent voices in your niche and then reach out to them in a way that’s respectful of their time.
Once you connect with the right influencer, they’ll help you connect with your audience. That connection is what it’s all about.
Case study: Brosix
The pioneering business instant messaging platform Brosix has embarked on a journey to drive more traffic to its site. Impressive results show nearly 50,000 average monthly visitors to the brand’s blog, which has a domain rating of 72.
So, how did they achieve these results? The answer is a consistent approach to content and tone of voice. With thorough keyword research, the brand regularly publishes relevant blog articles that are helpful and relevant to their audience. They also have a steady visual identity in every blog article.
They know who they’re targeting, too. These are businesses with distributed teams in different locations. By focusing on one specific niche, business communication through secure instant messaging, the brand has become a niche expert, converting into a high traffic volume of 48,000.
The key takeaway for your business? Follow the same method. Identify your target audience and focus on new and potential customers in your niche. Do in-depth keyword research and publish relevant articles regularly. Make sure you are answering the user’s search intent and being helpful with every word that you write. This way, you will attract loyal customers and can reach your target market more effectively.
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Conclusion
And there you have it — practical tips for building a brand through content. While starting a business takes a lot of work, you shouldn’t neglect promoting your brand at every opportunity. But remember that consistency with quality content is critical. By offering value to your audience and knowing what they’re searching for, you can create a loyal following that keeps coming back for more.