Think of some of your most memorable brand experiences… Were they experiential? Was it something the said? Something they did? Now think of your brand. Do you know how to leave a great brand impression? Are you connecting with your target audience in a way that will help you grow a community of loyal customers?
Here are 7 ways to create a memorable brand and help you connect with your customers in a meaningful way.
1: Develop a strong value proposition
Figuring out who you are targeting and exactly what you have to offer them will be key to figuring out how to create a memorable brand!
2: Put some effort into your brand name
There are a lot of different ways you can come up with a brand name. You can use an existing word, combine words together, come up with a new word altogether, or use an acronym. Regardless of your approach, make sure you think it through and consider these things:
- Make it personal. Your brand should mean something to you.
- Keep it simple. Making up new words might sound unique, but you need to educate people more to help them remember it and how to spell it, which takes more resources. Not everyone can come up with a new word and make it stick…
Key Consideration: Brainstorm among your team or with a group of friends or fellow entrepreneurs to help get you on the right track.
3: Think through your visual identity
Your brand is more than just your logo. Before creating any sort of visual identity, you need to figure out what your audience will respond to. Get to know what they like and dislike through market research, social listening, and competitor research. Then you can use your findings to select your brand colours, fonts, and create an impactful logo and wordmark. Once you have your basic brand identity in place, figure out how you want people to see your brand by identifying the types of imagery you want to use and your social media presets (filters, colours, etc).
Key Considerations: Try to step outside of what your competitors are doing when possible to help differentiate yourself.
4: Create your brand personality
Even though you are a company, there is still a person behind the brand – and you are marketing yourself to other people. So think of your brand as a person who has a personality. Your brand personality has everything to do with how you make people feel, how others see you, and the impact you have on your industry, community, and important causes. Are you fun-loving and care-free, using a flippant, conversational tone? Or are you more serious with a professional tone? Regardless of your answer, the only right answer is one that will help you to connect on a deeper level to your customers.
Key Considerations: Take this brand quiz to figure out your brand personality.
5: Consider how your target audience sees you and how you make them feel.
You really should listen when your customers give any sort of feedback related to your brand, customer experience, and overall business dealings. It’s one thing to have an idea of how you want to come across, but it’s a totally different thing when you talk about how you ACTUALLY come across to your target audience.
Key Consideration: Introduce audience listening into your overall strategy.
6: Get comfortable telling your story, not what you do
People relate to and remember stories, but there are likely hundreds or thousands of other businesses who offer the exact same product/service that you do. That is why you should answer “why” instead of “what” when you talk about what you do. Focus on the benefits of your product/service offering rather than the features of what you have to offer.
Key considerations: Figure out the difference between your features and benefits to make a difference in how you talk about your brand.
7: Talk about your brand… a lot
When it comes to marketing your brand, if you want to have a memorable brand you can’t be shy and just hope people discover you. You have to engage with your target audience regularly and consistently. Stay on brand message so you don’t try to be all things to all people. You invested in developing a memorable brand, now let people get to know who you are.
Creating a memorable brand doesn’t have to be difficult, but you do need to put the work in to make sure you have a great business and brand foundation set up.
Candace Huntly is Founding Partner at SongBird Marketing Communications, an award-winning agency working to take organizational and individual brands to the next level. With a passion for all things related to creativity and strategy, she specializes in business intelligence, marketing & branding, content strategy & development, media & influencer relations, and social media. Basically, if you need to put your brand, product, or cause in the public eye, she will find a way to do it, while making the approach unique to you.
Connect with Candace
Sign up for our free 20-minute consultation and we’ll help you figure things out.
A version of this article was originally posted to the SongBird Marketing Communications blog.
Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/email/Website