There is more to building a brand than creating a colourful logo and publishing a website. If you want to connect with your customers and establish trust in your business, you must carefully develop an image that reflects who you are and what you can do for your customers.

If you want to impress every potential client that comes your way, check out the following tips on how to build an innovative brand.

Determine your target audience

Never try to sell your company to everyone, as this tactic simply will not work. To maximise your reach and revenue, you must determine your target audience before you start developing logos, websites, and business cards.

Consider various characteristics of your consumers, such as:

• Geography – where are they located?
• Demographics – what is their age, gender, income, occupation, and education level?
• Behaviour – what are their spending habits? Are they loyal to certain brands? How prepared are they to purchase regularly?
• Lifestyle – what are their values? Where are they most likely to spend their money and time?

Consumer information such as this is invaluable, as it can help you to create an ideal target market, and with knowledge of their general spending habits and characteristics, you can tailor campaigns to appeal to your target market specifically, without them even realising it themselves.

Identify your brand’s key qualities

There are always going to be other brands with more experience, extensive resources, and bigger budgets, but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily better than your business. All you must do is identify what you have that your competitors do not.

For example, your small company size might provide your clients with a more personal touch, as they will not be forced to deal with a chain of people when answering questions or submitting an order. Simply give your target audience a reason to choose you over an industry rival.

This ties into developing a USP – what is it that you can offer clients that no other company can? Why should companies turn to you, and not your competitors? Having a firmly established USP that you can reiterate on your website in a few words can boost your business instantly, as website visitors will instantly know what you are offering, and how you can offer it.

How many times have you been on a website and been frustrated due to the lack of clarity? If a consumer is left wondering what you can actually offer after spending a few minutes scanning your homepage, then you have gone wrong somewhere along the way.

Boost your brand’s power

You don’t need to have hundreds or thousands of people on your payroll to become a forward-thinking, profitable brand. If you want to promote your business on different channels, all you might need is a multi-channel platform to help you do so. This can give you diversity and scale, without wasting valuable time and resources.

For example, if you require a Magento enterprise alternative, turn to Shopify Plus, which is a scalable, cloud-based solution that can help you to increase your brand’s power by selling on any channel.

Develop your brand’s tone of voice

It is important to develop your brand’s tone of voice before you get started on the design process. Think carefully about how to effectively communicate with your target demographic, as your brand’s voice could be:

• Conversational
• Professional
• Friendly
• Technical
• Quirky
• Authoritative
• Promotional

Adopt a tone of voice that makes sense with your services and will resonate with your core demographic. It is also important to use this tone of voice in every marketing material, such as your web content, posters, blogs, brochures, flyers, social media posts (like these brands that are killing it on social media), and banner ads.

Create your logo

Once you have identified your target audience, key qualities, and tone of voice, the next step will be to create your logo, which is easily one of the most enjoyable parts of the brand building process.

As the logo will provide a visual recognition of your business, it must relate to your products, services, and desired image. If executed well, it can help your company to stand out from the many rivals in your industry. You should take time and spend resources on developing your logo, as it is a representation of your product, so should stick in the mind from the start.

To make a memorable, effective and original logo, consider the points below:

• Colours – What colours are you going to use? What combination or theme is most eye catching? Take a look at some colour marketing tactics to get an understanding of why certain brands use certain colours with their brands and campaigns. Make sure that the colours you use do not clash, or make any part of the logo unreadable.
• Design – What design are you going to use? Will consumers be able to determine what you offer by simply looking at your logo? Consider what competitors have used for their logos and try and create something original. You don’t want to be too associated with another brand, and you want your logo to stand out above the rest.
• Versatility – Will your logo design suit various marketing campaigns? For example, would it be appropriate for various websites as well as on clothing, billboards, or merchandise? Your logo should be multi-functional and adaptable. Consider factors such as the font, and whether the text is readable depending on logo size.
• Continuity – Your company will come across as weak if you are constantly changing your brand aesthetic. This can come across as having an unclear identity as a business.

It can be easier than you think to create a strong, memorable brand and connect with your customers. Consider your USP, your branding and your target audience. Being strong from the outset can ensure you take your company in the right direction, and you don’t waste time and resources developing a brand that doesn’t connect with your customers or offer them what they want.