10 Essential Brand Development Tips for New Businesses

Do you think brand development is just for multinational corporations like Nike and Coca-Cola?

Why would a new business with an outstanding product or service need to think about how to build a brand?

The truth is that every business has to think about building a brand. There’s always so much competition in every niche market. But by making sure you have a killer brand, it could make the difference between success and failure in the business world.

That’s why you need to keep reading to find out our 10 essential brand development tips for new businesses.

1. Get an Awesome Name

Any half-decent brand marketer will tell you that your brand is much more than simply your name. And even though this is definitely true, your name still matters.

You name doesn’t have to be incredibly clever and innovative. You don’t need to have a play-on-words, a pun or a double-meaning to your brand name. In fact, it’s probably best to avoid any complicated spellings or imaginative fonts.

However, you do need to make sure it’s catchy and simple. The purpose of a brand name is to be recognizable and memorable to your customer base. So it needs to be easy to remember and spell your brand name.

Finally, make sure your name is unique to you. If you’re a computer company, you should totally avoid calling yourself Pear. Likewise, if you’re an online retailer, don’t go with Jungle.

2. Learn from Others in the Industry

Even though it’s easy to think about your competitors as your archest rival for customers. There’s always something new you can learn from other players in your niche.

What sort of brand do they have? How do they promote their products or services? How do they engage with customers?

Of course, you don’t want to copy exactly what your competitors do. But you can consider what they know that you don’t.

If they’re just on Instagram and don’t pay any attention to Facebook, think why could this be?

Maybe this is because they’ve conducted market research and found out that the vast majority of their customers spend time on Instagram, not Facebook. That’s why they’ve concentrated their efforts on that specific social media platform.

3. What Makes You Different?

With this in mind, you can consider what is your unique selling point (USP).

Maybe you sell better quality products than your competition? Or perhaps, your prices are much lower than the rest?

Whatever makes you different from the crowd, make it part of your branding. If you stand for quality, this should be reflected in your brand. It needs to scream expensive and luxury.

4. Create a Brand Narrative

Sometimes a great product at an affordable price simply isn’t enough. Branding your business is about creating a narrative. Your brand narrative is a story that can inspire your customers and employees.

Coca-cola doesn’t just sell a tasty drink. They define themselves as much more than that. They write on their website:

“We are Coca-Cola, and so much more.”

Think about as your brand identity. What does your company stand for?

5. Don’t Use Jargon

If your totally immersed in your niche, it’s easy to start thinking that technical words and phrases are important.

Of course, they’re crucial to the creative process. But when it comes to marketing your brand, you need to avoid any jargon.

Your brand needs to make sense to anyone. By using technical language and jargon you’re alienating potential customers.

6. Take Advantage of Social Media

You can’t afford to simply ignore social media. Social media is much more than simply what teenagers do on the weekend. It’s an essential aspect of every effective business.

It’s a free marketing tool that allows you to reach thousands and thousands of people in seconds. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of this?

However, it’s important to concentrate your efforts on the social media platforms that are relevant to your business.

If you’re focused on targeting young people, then you probably want to use Snapchat or Instagram. Whereas, if you’re more interested in conveying your brand message to business people, LinkedIn or Twitter is most suitable.

7. What’s the Context?

You might be starting your company in a local context in your home city. But it’s important to realize that in our globalized world, you could be reaching people from all over the world.

While your brand might make sense to people in your home city, this isn’t necessarily the case across the other side of the country or even further.

It’s vital that you take this into account what developing your brand.

8. Be Open About Feedback and Mistakes

With the development of 24-hour news media and the ever-present social media world, it’s important to be aware that you’re going to receive feedback.

Don’t take anything too much to heart. But it’s important to learn from the feedback and use it to improve your business practices.

You can’t control everything about your brand. If mistakes happen that affect your brand image, it’s important not to try to hide anything. Just be open and apologize if needed.

9. Create Great Content

As a new business just starting out, you’re not going to receive a whole lot of attention at first. However, it’s important to build up your following by creating great content for your brand.

This can include everything from niche blogs, such as “How to” articles and “Listicles.” You can also try starting a vlog with engaging videos promoting your brand.

These are amazing ways to get your voice heard. But they also serve to get authority in your niche.

10. Outsource to the Experts

As a small and new business, you can’t possibly be able to manage everything aspect of your business with your team. Sometimes you need to outsource to the experts.

Whether it’s marketing and promoting needs, copywriting or IT consultants, it’s important to get help from experienced and professional people. Don’t try to do everything by yourself.

The Importance of Brand Development

Branding your business is so important to make sure you grow your business. With these 10 brand development tips, your onto the perfect start towards success with your business.

If you found this blog post useful, check out our business blog on our website.