Hello WU Learner!
Branding is the first step to introduce your product and services to the market. A good branding will deliver a positive image towards your company. Therefore, a good strategy is needed to overcome the challenges and give a good impact towards the company image and exposures.
These following steps is the beginning of how to start a good branding for your company
1. Identify the market for your startup
It’s impossible to successfully brand any business without context. In other words, you need to know who your ideal customers are, where you’re positioned in the current marketplace, and how your products compare to those provided by competitors.
Begin by asking yourself who you really want to sell to. Pro tip: The answer here isn’t “everyone”. As nice it would be to make the entire world your audience, the truth is that being too vague or broad with your user and buyer personas is a recipe for failure. Startup companies need to make an impact fast, and the best way to do this is to focus in on a “niche”.
2. Study your competitors
Even the most ssensational startups in the world are at a disadvantage today. You’re entering the game after dozens of companies have already started playing, which means that you need to work extra hard to find a place on the board.
3. Differentiate yourself
No matter how incredible your product might be, there’s a good chance that someone else is already doing something similar. The only way to survive in this crowded space is to identify where your products stand out from the crowd. For instance, there might be countless companies out there selling craft beer – but maybe yours is the only one that’s gluten-free?
Sometimes, the thing that really makes you special will have nothing to do with your product. After all, if you look at the marketing mix, there’s more to your business than the items you sell. Maybe you don’t provide the most cost-effective services or sell the cheapest products in your sector. However, you could have a customer service experience that makes up for all that. Find a way to be different – no matter how small that difference might seem.
4. Choose a name with caution
When it comes to startup branding, a lot of branding services for startups find that their customers are all-too-keen to jump into the naming process. Unfortunately rushing to give yourself and your company a title can mean that you end up with some truly terrible names. Or create extra work and expense further down the line, because you’ve cut corners.
Since your name is how your customers will come to know your product, your services, and your brand, it’s an important part of your identity. Before you start creating your logo, visual identity and printing out business cards, think about what people will imagine when they hear your name. Look for ways that your name might be misconceived in different countries or cultures.
A good rule of thumb – if you need to explain how to pronounce your name, or justify why your name makes sense and what it means, then you might not be on the right track.
5. Create your image
Finally, once all your startup branding research is done, and you understand what your company is going to be about, you’ll be ready to start working on your image. There are a lot of factors that go into a business image, including the images you choose for your website, the logo you pick for your brand, and the color schemes that you spread across your media.
Since we’re living in a digitally-focused world today, make sure that all the branding materials you create will work on a range of different platforms. This is crucial for making sure that your brand appears modern, and professional.
For startups, the best thing you can do (unless you have prior graphic design knowledge) is access the help of an expert. Since your logo and image is going to stay with you for a long time, you really can’t afford to make a mess of it. A startup branding agency will make sure that you don’t do anything you’re going to regret later.