After all of the hard work of what you’re going to be selling regarding products or services, branding should be high up on the list of things to tackle. Building a strong brand will help people engage and recognize you – anywhere. Like anything in business, branding takes planning and some smart strategies. So here are some of them to get your teeth into.

Find an expert and ask them endless questions. There are some fabulous branding experts out there in the world, and you are missing a trick if you don’t track one down. Between you and your new best friend do a 360 of your brand, then you can work on what your next steps should be, you can streamline everything you do.

Get out there. If you are sitting back and waiting for the moment that your brand goes global, but without you putting any effort in – then you might be there for some time. Networking is a fundamental of getting your name out there and driving the conversation in any way that benefits you. But don’t head in with the mindset of talking about you and your brand for the duration, take cards, write down names and follow up afterward – not to sell your product or services, to keep those lines of communication open. If you happen to have an office address, pop over a few bits of promotional items too, but make them useful things like pens, mugs, notepads, and lanyards. If you haven’t sorted out some promotion materials yet, check out Lanyards USA their homepage gives you loads of information and options.

Spread it out. Your brand is a public entity; people will see it and inevitably have questions. People close to you might want to know why you have opted for a specific color, other people might question the name or tagline. Be open, be honest. The internet now is filled with very successful entrepreneurs who openly discuss why they made individual decisions. You are sharing some of your expertise, and solidifying your brand at the same time. Excellent business and great branding isn’t some deep dark secret – so talk about it.

Connect with your people. It might sound a little too obvious, but it really isn’t. During your market research phase, you will have identified and learned a great deal about your intended buyers. That audience needs to be interested in your brand and you. So you know who they are, what they do, and why they will like your brand. So what is the next step? Tailor what you do, to them. Shock horror – you thought this was all about you? Well, it is, and it isn’t. Imagine writing a speech about soccer but delivering the speech to people who thought you were going to talk about the newest vegan craze – mismatched. Use the social channels that your audience use, speak the language they use, be where they are.

Let yourself shine through. With the rise of selling on social media, there has been a shift in how people buy. Although online has been the significant trend for years and in fact doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all, shopping a celebrity endorsed item is exploding. Why? Because people have taken to them and their personality and believe that the brand they have created or are promoting will align with who they are too. What does that mean for you? Well, it says that you need to stay true to who you are at all times because you and your brand are now one in the same. If people trust and like you, they’ll trust and like your product.

Be the most real. There is a something that smaller start-ups can do from the moment they open their digital doors that many more prominent brands are trying to now incorporate into their business and branding story.  Authenticity. This is linked in with the last point. Try not to force yourself into boxes that you don’t fit, don’t follow in the footsteps of a brand you see as successful for the sake of it and avoid the desire to over-inflate what you can do or offer. Be true to who you are, the vision behind your brand and services and your authenticity will shine through.

Be your press. Write your own story. You have the ability to design your entire brands story and appearance. Be social, use your social media to share events you are at or have been invited to, use podcasts to tell parts of your start-up journey, videos with tips on and share ideas too. Don’t just use it as a platform to sell what you do, use it to share who you are. That way if people want to know more, they can go directly to the source.

Be laser focused, for as long as possible. Not everyone is your client, and that is okay. Keep your sights fixed firmly on a specific demographic, cater to them until you have enough of a loyal customer base to begin to widen the scope. There is a reason that experts and specialists get paid higher to give talks or opinions.

What do you stand for? Branding has never just been about your logo and colors. It’s about your values, your ethos, what you are saying and how you are saying it. Make sure everything you put out is delivering your key messages. Another critical point here is to make sure that your personal profiles also match up with your business ones. If on your business ones you are saying one thing, then the person contradicting yourself – people will not have trust in you after seeing that.

Great branding is about making simple steps to keep what you say, do and deliver is all consistent. If you have launched a start-up that is authentically you, you won’t have a problem keeping everything neat and engaging. Share, be open, network, keep your focus and you’ll get a loyal customer basis in no time.

Photo by Keila Hötzel on Unsplash