Brand inception, implementation and development is arguably the most salient task for an entrepreneur. Think of your brand as a living entity, and it needs to resonate a personality and character. Curiosity, engagement and an overarching personal connection are significant indicators that dictate the relatability of your brand. Essentially, your target audience needs to be able to associate emotionally with your brand.

 

Positioning your brand to achieve market share

There are three pertinent questions to answer before creating your positioning statement:

  1. Who is your target customer?
  2. What’s your business’s unique service proposition (USP)?
  3. Do you have data to validate your USP such as proof of concept; testimonials and case studies?
 

These questions (and the relative answers) work in synergy, and once you can say ‘yes’ to all of them, you’ll have a finite idea of the potential market share you could obtain in your industry.

 

Passion vs practicality

As mentioned above, the most convincing way to test your brand’s power is through personification. Before you introduce your brand to your audience, identify measurable metrics that will provide you with supportive empirical data so that you can interpret and analyse reactions. Moreover, you’ll also have to define why your brand’s products and/or services deserve to be on the market. It has to be based on passion – an intrinsic belief in your brand’s ability to become popular and financially successful.

Once you’ve proved that the brand’s personality is relatable with your audience, the element of consistency needs to be implemented: this is known as your brand identity. It includes logo design; typography, colour palate as well as a voice and tone. The best way to achieve this is through creating a style guide to which you adhere across all brand marketing channels and social media platforms.

A consistent theme needs to be mapped out and implemented from day one. It’s not something that can only be started at a certain point in your business’s development; it’s the foundation and infrastructure on which everything else is built.

Does it break through the proverbial consumer barrier?

The reality is that people receive content frequently through digital channels. Poorly executed email and social media campaigns have rendered many people immune to the attempted allure of clicking through to the specific landing page – and that’s the digital challenge brands face. If it can break through this ‘systemic immunity’ barrier, you know you’ve developed a strong brand identity. 

Remember that to back up any claims you make; you need data. So, ensure that you’re tracking and evaluating set metrics to gauge whether you’re attracting your target audience. A few changes may need to be instated before you’ve created a sure-fire recipe for success.

Suppose you can prove prospective consumers can identify your brand and the core message, values and services/products it offers within a few seconds. In that case, you’re on track to achieving a profit-generating business with investment potential.

As mentioned above, brand development is the ‘relatable’ perception of your company. In a sense, it needs to have its own character coupled with a USP that evokes feelings of connection. Remember, a brand’s identity will always need to evolve with changes in market stimuli, customer expectations and general behavioural changes in the market. Always be ahead of the curve so you can anticipate actions to pre-empt competition getting the upper hand.

Let’s take Mercedes-Benz and Toyota for example. Just by mentioning their respective names, you know exactly what to expect from both vehicles. This is due to their respective brand’s marketing strategy that prioritises the consistency of their core message and purpose. Each company’s values and position and final product output in the vehicle manufacturing industry are clear, concise to the end-consumer. It is for this reason that these vehicle industry giants enjoy high customer retention and satisfaction.

This is one of the approaches that form part of comprehensive conversion-winning brand identity and digital marketing strategy. It’s a vital multi-faceted plan to assist you in accomplishing your financial growth, sustainability, customer targeting and market share endeavours along a defined timeline.

However, keeping customers interested doesn’t stop there, take a few minutes and browse each company’s social media platforms. You’ll find a plethora of fascinating content such as concept car designs and test drives of new models to keep their audience engaged always. You’ll find that all of the elements of their brand identity will be represented on these platforms to trigger the intended connection with the brand.

In summary, building a brand around the tenet of consistency will bring customers back to your business because they will have garnered a high level of trust and loyalty towards your brand.

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