5 steps to hone a brand

The task of creating and honing a unique brand that perfectly fits the identity and intentions of your business is one of the toughest tasks you’re likely to face as a business owner. All of the top brands out there make it look easy, but that’s not the case. It takes really time and effort to hone a brand. But what does that mean and what does the process look like? That’s what we’re going to discuss today, so read on.

Established Core Values

First of all, the brand identity needs to be built around something specific. This is something that will obviously differ from brand to brand, but it’s always worth thinking about the core values that the business is built around. What do you want your business to be about? What will the brand stand for and, hopefully, one day be recognized for? Those are questions you’ll need to have answers to.

A Tone of Voice and Consistent Messaging

The tone of voice you adopt will be key and will go a long way towards deciding how people see and judge your company. It’s also important to consider messaging and how consistency lends authenticity and believability to the messages that target audiences are receiving from your brand. An approach that comes across as messy and inconsistent only damages a brand and turns away customers or clients that might otherwise be interested.

Testing and Measuring

Testing and measuring the success and effectiveness of your brand’s messaging and the tone of voice you’ve adopted is something else you’ll need to consider. Testing the way in which the company’s messages are performing and how target audiences are receiving and perceiving them will tell you a lot about changes that might need to be made. Things shouldn’t remain static and without adaptation for long periods of time.

Fully Understanding Your Niche

For a brand to be fully developed and appropriate to its audience, it needs to embody the niche the business exists within in some way. A company that sells timothy hay needs to understand the niche and the particular needs of horse owners. The same applies to every brand out there. No matter how big or small your business’s niche is, understanding it and speaking on it with authority is key.

The Right Balance

Getting the balance right is something else that’s considered really important when it comes to honing a brand. On the one hand, you probably want your business to come across as professional and reliable. But you might also want to create a more laid back kind of brand image too, with a little approachability thrown into the mix for good measure.

There are many different variables that have to be negotiated when putting in place a winning branding strategy. The wrong approach in any one of the areas discussed above will run the risk of putting the brand at risk and failing to connect with target audiences successfully. So make the most of the advice above.