Brand development is more than designing and developing a logo and a dedicated social media account. Hordes of people are becoming entrepreneurs, but do they know the ‘real’ meaning of what exactly is a ‘brand’?
If you think closely, the term stands for a broad aspect of business transformation. If your progress vocabulary does not include branding, then- you are not on the correct path. For a business to grow organically or inorganically- branding is a significant step that one ought to take in any circumstance. Brand development agencies exist to assist small or big companies in their journey of self-brand discovery. Â
In this blog, you will get to know about the following topics:
- What is brand development? Â
- The four steps of brand development, and Â
- Why is it necessary? Â
What is Brand Development? Â
Brand development is the uninterrupted process of defining, establishing, refining, and testing overall brand strategy. You eventually reach the status of a brand; it is a wide road filled with challenges- from design to marketing, you will have to perform every crucial step you come across. With a clear-cut understanding of your business- you can move ahead with the refining and branding process.
What is the difference Between Brand Development and Branding?
- Brand development- the concept.
- Branding- the execution.
Let that sink in.
Anyone can create the concept; the real problem arises with the execution. Brand development is learning about a brand’s unique traits and qualities. And with performance- the real work begins.
4 Steps to Brand Development
- Know your business
- Who is your audience?
- Work on your resources
- Analyze your brand growth
Know Your Business
You will only be able to understand the basics once and if you know your business ultimately. You need to understand your business to create content or designs for audiences. At the end of the day, you’ll be asked questions or queries regarding your business- and as the founder/CEO, you need to know the vision and goals of your business.
- You must examine the below-mentioned aspects;
- You and your competitors’ performance, and
- Where do you and your consumers stand?
For you and your consumers, you have to do a SWOT analysis. For your better understanding, I have divided the steps.
Strengths: Do your consumers like your services? What reputation does your business hold in the market? Are you leaving behind your core competitor or not?
Weaknesses: Do your competitors have an advantage over your business? If yes, then what is it, and will you be able to combat the same?
Opportunities: You need to be ready to grab any opportunities that come your way. You need to be aware of what is changing in your industry and whether your business can make the likewise addition or not.
Threats: Point out the prime threats to your business. It can be your core competitors or a local rising shop. You must be one step ahead of your competition and should know what your competition is up to.
After doing a careful SWOT analysis, most of your doubts are expected to be clear and sorted. If, after the SWOT analysis- you are still thinking and are worried. Then you need to do the SWOT analysis again, as it has not been done thoroughly.
Benefits of SWOT Analysis
- SWOT analysis helps you better understand your competitors and audience
- It lets your brand communicate way better to the potential audiences
For you and your audience to create a loyal relationship, you need to ask questions that are mentioned below;
- What problem does your product solve?
- Are you offering a unique product to the market?
- Are people making efforts to solve the same problem you are targeting?
- Why is your product better at solving the issue in comparison to other products?
Know Your Audience
You must have heard the phrase “know your audience” before. Part of your brand development is knowing your business products and services in-out. Creating a user persona is the key to getting to know the audience’s real needs. A user persona clears out any doubt or myth- users can have regarding your business.
To come up with good and thorough user personas- you can read the following content that is often available online;
- Online product reviews
- Customer testimonials
- Social media interactions
- Raw consumer feedback
Spread Brand Awareness
If you will not publicly speak about your products, then who will? To develop your brand, you need to outline your brand specifics, as in what makes your brand unique from others or how you can promote your business uniqueness.
How can you do that?
You can carry out customer and competitor analysis. Keep in mind that online review information can either hamper or elevate your brand reputation. What people say about your brand is of utmost significance, especially behind your back. If people are praising your brand, there are significant chances that other people will read them and make an online purchase decision. And on the other hand, the same goes for negative online reviews.
You can use the below-mentioned things to spread brand awareness;
- A logo
- A tagline
- A detailed style guide
- A website
- A content strategy
Track your brand progress
The fourth and crucial step in brand development is to keep track of brand progress.
A strategic and brilliant brand development plan does not sum up if the final result would not as impactful as expected. One must consider things such as mentioned below;
- What is your website’s daily traffic value?
- Do people like your brand on social media?
- How many new leads were generated?
- Has the volume of web visitors increased in the past time or not?
Bottom Line
When you are focusing on brand development, nothing else matters. If you cannot manage everything on your own, you can hire a brand development agency to do the work. As most of the branding and marketing agencies have professionals working under them, it’ll no longer be an issue of concern. Â
