Defining Your Brand: The 1st Step of Any Online Marketing Strategy

In developing your business, your most important first step is defining your business. You want to build an outstanding brand experience that will gain customer loyalty. This means having the same principle highlights of big brand marketing. Having this mindset will enable your small business to reproduce the same kind of success.

To begin, you need to define your brand in order to build your brand experience for your customers. There are some primary steps that need to be taken in order to define your brand awareness for your customers. These initial steps will help you successfully distinguish your brand.

Defining Your Brand for Your Marketing Plan

In order to map out your marketing plan, you need a well-developed brand statement that distinguishes the following:

1. The type of business you are (industry/niche)
2. The types of customers your small business serves (target market)
3. How you serve your customers (uniqueness)

You have to define exactly what your small business stands for, specifically. You must also define the types of services and products that your audience can expect from you. These are called your solutions. Your potential customers have problems they’re seeking solutions for in order to solve those problems.

The goal is to convince them that your solutions are the best ones for their problems. Defining your brand should be your first step in branding your business.

Featured Image: fmiguild.org

Defining Your Brand with an Effective Description

When you’re defining your brand, be as clear as possible as you describe your brand and your small business. This will help you build a brand experience that’s specific to your industry, niche and or solutions. Below are three important building blocks to help get you started defining your brand in writing:

1. Make a Skills List. Make a list of the things that you are good at doing when

   

   it comes to your small business. What are your company’s strengths and special skills? What do you want your customers to envision when they think about your brand? Your skills will allow you to form the basis of how to define your brand.

2. Needs of your Customers. Take your skills list from above. Look through the items and pick out the ones that relate the most to the needs of your customers. Think about the different types of solutions that you provide which cause your customers to return to do business with you again. When defining your brand, base your definition on your ability to meet the demands of your customers.
3. Always be Different and Unique. How are you different from your competition? The brand experience that you are giving to your customers should be unique. And, being different starts with searching within the solutions that you offer to discover just what makes yours different from your competitors’. Your main goal here is to build brand awareness by standing out from your competition.

Be Specific When Defining Your Brand

Be as clear as possible in your brand definition! This is very important. But, do not box in your brand too tight.

For example, if a hair salon owner defined the salon as one that only provides services to “women with short haircuts,” this would close it off from receiving business from others. Women, men and children with other types of hair styles or needed salon services wouldn’t even walk inside to give them a chance.

The secret here is to be specific within balance, focus and differentiation with ability for later expansion. Make sure to use good description when defining your brand. You may be a small business with only one niche today. But, you want to define your brand as a business that’s open for growth over time.

Need Help Defining Your Brand?

Content Marketing Geek can help you define your business brand successfully. We’ll help you build your brand image so that your small business stand out amongst your competitors.

Own your industry. Create trust amongst your target market. Capture quality leads, nurture your leads and convert your leads with high quality, unique, relevant content.

Are you an entrepreneur, also known as a solopreneur, hoping to build your brand online? Check out this Forbes article entitled, “The Definitive Guide To Building Your Personal Brand” for ways to brand you, when you are your brand.

We’d love to know how you were able to successfully define and build your brand online. Share your tips for defining a business brand below.