8 Steps to Building a Brand for Your Business

Swoosh. Golden Arches. The Happiest Place on Earth. “It’s in the game.” “Easy, breezy, beautiful.” “Think different.” Did you just make a mental image of those brands based on either their logo description or slogan? If you did, it’s proof of the power of branding. You’re probably wondering, how do I get my business to that level of recognizability? Is that even possible? Is it worth it

The short answer is yes. In fact, 59% of consumers prefer to buy from familiar brands. In this article, we’re going to lay out 8 simple tips on how to build or revamp your brand.

What is a brand?

Now, you may be asking how to define a brand. A simple definition of a brand is it’s your company’s identity. Who are you? How do you differentiate yourself from other companies, specifically competitors? There are several elements that make-up a brand such as logos, colors, or slogans. However, it also goes beyond visual assets and includes your voice, values, and target audience. 

How to build a brand

Starting to build your brand is daunting especially when you think of recognizable brands such as Nike or McDonald’s. How do I elevate my brand to that level? Is that even possible? What should be my goal?

 It’s important to remember that your brand can and should evolve. If you don’t think of the perfect slogan right away, that’s okay. If you end up changing your brand colors 5 years down the road, no problem. Just like your business practices are likely to change over time, so will your brand. So, whether you’re just starting to define your brand or want to revamp it, here are 8 steps to get you going.

1. What are your brand’s mission and values?
2. Who are you trying to target?
3. How can you differentiate your brand from your competitors?
4. What is your brand’s voice?
5. Create a visual identity: colors, fonts, logo
6. Come up with a slogan or tagline
7. Be consistent
8. Build trust

Let’s break down each step to get a better understanding of how to fulfill each one.

1. What are your brand’s mission and values?

Start with the basics of your business. What’s your business’ mission? Your mission statement and brand messaging need to align. Your mission can also be defined as your values or ethics. Maybe you value transparency and honesty when it comes to pricing. Maybe you value sourcing sustainable and environmentally-friendly materials for your products. How do you want your potential customers to feel about you?

You can find inspiration for your brand’s values and ethics in other companies. What practices do brands you like implement into their business? Why do you trust a certain brand more than the other? Once you find that inspiration, build on it, make it your own, and make it better.

2. Who are you trying to target?

Who’s your target audience? Who are you trying to sell your brand to? Once you define your buyer personas, do research on them. What are they searching for? What products are they buying? What social media accounts do they follow and engage with? Get into the head of your buyers and then customize your brand towards them.

3. How can you differentiate your brand from your competitors?

Separate yourself from the competition: what makes your brand different? What benefits do you offer that your competitors don’t? Just like your target audience, research your competitors. What colors do they use? What’s their brand voice (more on that shortly)? Do they use social media? 

By researching your competitors, you can find your niche that will separate your business from others and help build brand recognition. 

4. What is your brand’s voice? 

This comes down to defining the tone of your messaging. How do you want your customers to feel when watching a marketing video, reading a blog post, or scrolling through your website? Do you want to be inspirational? Humorous? Transparent? Personal?

Here’s a pro tip: write down 5 words that describe your business. Then, tailor your voice to reflect those 5 words. Defining your voice creates brand consistency in your messaging across all channels. It can also help personalize your messaging so that your target audience feels as though a person is talking to them, not a company.

5. Create a visual identity: colors, fonts, logo

When people think of the word “brand,” they likely first think of a brand’s logo. Some of the world’s most recognizable logos include Apple, Google, Starbucks, Disney, Target. You probably were able to picture all those logos in your head, right?

However, there’s more than just a logo when it comes to design. Brand colors are just as important. In fact, a study found that color improves brand recognition by up to 80%. Brand fonts or design elements (swirls, flowers, stars – you get the picture) are also important, especially when it comes to your website.

6. Come up with a slogan or tagline 

This one can be a bit confusing because not every big brand has a singular slogan. Starbucks, for example, has used several over the years. However, Starbucks also doesn’t do a lot of traditional marketing or advertising. Can you think of a notable Starbucks commercial? Probably not. With this in mind, having a slogan isn’t imperative to Starbucks’ brand.

On the flip side, think of Nike. Did you just say, “Just Do It?” Or what about Subway? You probably uttered “Eat Fresh.” Slogans have the power to make a statement for your brand as long as you use them consistently, which brings us to the next tip…

7. Consistency is key

Once you have all the aforementioned items in place, it’s time to implement it all by promoting your brand across all channels. That includes your website, social media, marketing videos, email signatures, product packaging, the list goes on and on.

Consistency is essential in brand recognizability. A survey found it takes 5 – 7 impressions before someone will remember your brand. Not only that, but consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by up to 23%.

Creating brand guidelines helps with visual consistency. Guidelines ensure you’re using the correct colors, fonts, and design elements for visual assets and helps streamline the process for your employees. This helps everyone stay on the same page (and on-brand!).

8. Build trust

How do you build trust, you may ask? Practice what you preach. If your mission is to reduce your carbon footprint, then be sure to use sustainable materials. If you claim you're the most affordable brand compared to your competitors, then match prices. Stay true to your values. Building trust builds loyalty, and loyalty helps bring money in the door. 

Just like defining your values and ethics, try to think about why you trust the brands that you do on a personal level. What makes you trust them? What can a brand do to lose your trust? Follow your own moral guidelines when figuring out how to build trust within your brand.

Building a brand case study: VMG Studios

Hopefully, those 8 tips will help you hit the ground running when it comes to building or redesigning your brand. However, if you’re anything like me, you’d like to see examples for each tip. With that in mind, I’m going to use VMG Studios as our example.

Click here to keep reading this article to see how VMG's brand identity has changed throughout the years.

Written by Chelsea Sassara

You can find more educational content about video production and animation on our learning hub, The Creative Toolkit for Marketers.

You'll find articles on:

• How Much Does a Video Cost?
• How to Work with an Agency: What's my Involvement as the Client?
• What is Interactive Video?

VMG Studios is a preferred supplier for Amazon, AWS, Microsoft, Facebook, T-Mobile, Ericsson, and Starbucks.