Branding

Branding Tips for New Businesses

brandingTechnology has changed the landscape of how businesses communicate with their customers. These days, marketers reach a target base by implementing online techniques such as search engine optimization or by utilizing social media. But even though modern businesses exist in a state of hyper-competition in the online world, the fundamentals of business strategy have remained relatively the same. One such cornerstone of a successful business is effective branding.

Those who don't place much importance on branding need only to look to Coca Cola or Apple or any number of other titans of industry that have remained profit-generating goliaths over decades or even generations. And like any fundamental value, many of the best ways to build a successful brand are still based around core principals that have informed businesses practically since their inception.

Know the Customer

It's an old adage, and one that is still relevant even in today's world of SEO and Google Analytics. The key to successful branding is still identifying a target base and defining it through segmentation. After this is accomplished, it's up to the marketer to link his or her service or product to that customer base with a promise. It's in this way that a particular brand becomes superior to the competition.

Stay on Top of the Competition

One of the main reasons businesses fail is because they fail to see how customers respond to their competitor's brands. This goes beyond looking for chinks in competitors' armor and includes looking at how they are successful as well. It's only by fully understanding these two key aspects of the competition that marketers can then find their differentiator, which is ultimately what will set their brand apart from the competition.

Think about Compatibility

There are plenty of ways to understand a customer base, one of which is through brand compatibility. This takes into account everything: the customers' spending habits, their lifestyle, their media interests - even their general attitude. To this end, marketers will want to focus on the strength of the connection between the purchase behavior of the customer and the brand's differentiator.

Position the Brand Effectively

This goes back to communication, because how well a brand communicates its message to a customer base will ultimately determine its success. But it takes more than merely telling a customer about a product; the marketer needs to establish a relationship with the customer through positioning. And the two keys to successfully positioning a brand are simple: pre-planning and market research.

Merge the Business with the Brand

Those most successful brands are also most successful at blurring the lines between their business and their brand. And this goes beyond simply hiring positive employees to represent "service with a smile." Go into any Apple Store and the first thing a person sees - aside from the sleek devices - is a group of employees who represent the brand to the letter.

While the above list may not be a complete blueprint for how to achieve ultimate success in business, it should provide startups or new entrepreneurs with those fundamental notions to bear in mind during every step of the game. Because without core guiding principals, many businesses languish right from the get go.

Published on behalf of Ms. Candace Allen, a professional blogger that provides news and information on the top franchises and franchise areas such as auto repair franchises and bakery franchises. She writes for FranchiseExpo.com, the best place to find the top franchise opportunities and businesses for sale.

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