When you think of a brand, what comes to mind?
You might imagine company logos plastered on everything. You might think of catchy slogans or commercial jingles. Or you might think about specific products from your favorite companies.
All of those items are certainly part of a brand, but that’s only touching the tip of the iceberg. A brand goes much deeper and is far more important than that.
You need to go beyond the outward appearance. A brand speaks to what a business is all about.
It’s certainly not something that should be overlooked.
As you prepare to sell your own product to the rest of the world, nailing down your brand will become a vital part of your success.
Without a well-defined brand, you’ll always be fighting an uphill battle.
But if you nail your online branding just right, you’ll be giving yourself a significant advantage as you put your name out there.
Why You’re Branding is Important
You may wonder why building a brand is so crucial in the first place. If you have a great product that people like, isn’t that enough?
Not always.
You could offer something truly amazing, but that doesn’t always translate to sales if you don’t have the right branding to support it.
A brand is more than a logo or a slogan.
In many ways, it serves as your identity.
Your brand is all about building trust with your customers.
Think about the products you buy most often. How important is the brand to you? Are there some brands you trust more than others? Why?
Put simply, people prefer to buy from brands they already like.
The numbers back this up. One survey from Nielsen showed that 59% of consumers would rather buy new products from brands that they’re already familiar with.
If a customer already trusts your brand, selling them more products is so much easier.
Having a trusted online brand is also a great way to reach more people.
Businesses can thrive on the internet because they can reach almost anyone.
You don’t have to worry about bringing in customers to a physical store anymore. With your online sales funnel, you can attract your next door neighbor or a stranger from halfway across the world.
Creating a brand means giving you more control over your image, your products, and your message.
Potential customers are going to be searching for you online. What do you want them to see when they Google you?
A brand also helps you establish a relationship and connection with customers.
How you present your brand is really up to you. Just remember that pretty much every part of your business needs to represent that brand.
With the help of ClickFunnels, you can let that brand shine. Get your story out there. Let people know about what you offer and how it can help them.
Starting a brand is important, but it’s not always easy.
Many people have no idea how to begin.
If you have questions about how to create a brand, you’ve come to the right place.
Building Your Online Brand — A Handy Guide
Once you know you need to build a brand, it’s time to get to work.
Building your online brand is not something you can do in a day. Brand building takes time; it’s a process.
You need to have patience and a clear strategy for getting it done. Building a confident brand can takes months or even years.
So as you wonder how to start a brand, take a look at these steps.
1. Get to know your customers
Part of developing your online brand is getting to know who you want to sell to.
You need to identify your target audience.
You might start with a more general description of your audience, but you need to narrow it down as you go along.
Simply saying “my target audience is women” isn’t specific enough in a market as big as health and wellness. Neither is saying “men” if who you’re really trying to reach are urban fathers with a love of personal grooming.
Get into the details of the most promising customers your product is for.
How old are they? What kind of place do they live in? How much money do they make? What kind of education do they have? What are their hobbies?
The more specific your target audience, the easier it will be to craft a brand around them.
So don’t just say your customers are “women.” Instead, say that you’re customers are “women ages 30-45 who earn around $40,000 a year, live in the suburbs, enjoy exercising, and earned a college degree.” That’s a target audience that that an online brand can speak to.
2. Do some research
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but you don’t want to straight up imitate any other company’s brand.
You want to create something unique that will stand out from the rest.
Researching your competitors is still a smart move, though.
As you look into what your closest competitors are doing, you’ll be able to find out where and how they’re succeeding.
What do they do well with their brand? What do they lack?
From there, you should know where your own online brand can capitalize.
Your research should not only find out how competitors do things but also what customers have to say about them.
Luckily, customer reviews are usually readily available.
Study these reviews. See what positive things they talk about, and note where the company seems to be falling short.
Check to see how consistent a competitor’s messaging is across all their platforms and channels.
You don’t have to look through a long list of competitors for this step. Just pick a few and get started with your research.
3. Know your product
This may seem like an obvious step, but it’s one you shouldn’t skip.
Now you might think to yourself, “Of course I know my own product. I’m trying to sell it, aren’t I?”
But this step is a good opportunity to really examine what you’re selling.
Go beyond its surface qualities and really dig into what makes it special.
Identify the biggest benefits people can gain from your product. The more unique and interesting, the more it will help to inform your brand.
Let’s say you have a new book to offer. How will people benefit from reading it? Get as specific as you can.
If you’ve already found out more about your most promising customers, this step can be pretty easy.
By identifying where your product stands out, you can then expand upon that and include it with your brand.
4. Create a mission statement
Every business should have a mission statement.
Note that a mission statement is not a slogan or a motto.
A mission statement eloquently states what you hope to do. Every part of your company should reflect that.
In a sense, your brand mission statement doesn’t answer the what but the why. Why are you selling this product? Why did you start your business in the first place?
Let’s take a look at the mission statements from some famous brands.
- Amazon: “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online.”
- Microsoft: “…to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
- Google: “…to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
- Starbucks: “To inspire and nurture the human spirit — one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”
- Hubspot: “To make the world Inbound. We want to transform how organizations attract, engage and delight customers.”
- IKEA: “…to create a better everyday life for the many people.”
- Honest Tea: “To create and promote great-tasting, healthy, organic beverages.”
- McDonald’s: “…to be our customers’ favorite place and way to eat and drink.”
What do you think of these mission statements? Do you feel they match your experiences with these companies?
Craft a mission statement that speaks to the purpose of your brand. Make sure everything you do with your brand accurately reflects it.
5. Choose a voice
You know your audience. You’re familiar with your product. You have a mission statement.
Now you have to figure out how you communicate your ideas.
For this step, you need to choose a brand voice.
This is what people will be reading as they enter your sales funnel.
Brand voices can come in many different types. Your voice can be professional, or it can be casual. You can be funny or serious. Laid back or direct.
You can even combine attributes for your voice. You can be both funny and informative or casual and serious.
Whatever you choose, it really depends on what will speak to your customers the best.
As you create content for your funnel, you’ll need to use this voice and stay consistent with it.
Without that consistency, people may get confused, and you’ll fail to make a connection.
6. Perfect your brand message
As you build your online sales funnel with the help of ClickFunnels, you’re going to get a lot of newcomers.
What’s the first thing they see when they enter your funnel?
To be most effective, you’ll need to have a clear brand message ready to greet them.
This is different from your brand mission statement.
In a sense, your brand message helps define what you and your product are.
It should simply state who are are, the kind of product you offer, and how it will benefit the customer.
And it should do all that in just a couple of sentences.
Some people like to call this the elevator pitch. Basically, what would you say to sell your brand in the amount of time you spend with someone on an elevator.
If you can’t sum up your brand message in one or two sentences, you’ll need to take some time to refine it.
Fortunately, ClickFunnels can help you craft a message that is both brief and effective.
7. Make a logo
As mentioned before, your brand is more than a logo. But your logo is still important.
Some of the most widely recognized shapes and symbols are logos. It’s often the first thing we associate with a company.
Creating a logo is a chance to flex your creative muscles. It should reflect your brand and be a welcome sight for your target audience.
But what if you’re not a designer?
You can still create a logo thanks to plenty of logo makers that are available online. Many of them are free.
At the same time, feel free to make a set of brand guidelines. This determines the colors you use, fonts, style, and other visible elements of your brand.
8. Expand your brand online
Now comes the time to build up your brand online.
By this point you’ve already built your funnel with ClickFunnels. With your brand fully defined, you’ll need to start building it out further and get people to enter your funnel.
This strategy should including promoting your brand through a variety of channels and platforms.
Get on social media and make sure your brand has its own channels.
Having Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages will allow you to engage with your audience.
They’ll be able to experience your online brand first hand.
This helps establish your reputation and create connections with potential customers.
Build Your Online Brand With ClickFunnels
Now that you know how to make a brand, you are well on your way to seeing success with your sales funnel.
The key with creating a successful brand is to be consistent with it at all times. No matter the channel, your brand should remain the same.
Use your brand with every aspect of your business. It should be a part of everything. Advocate for it at every opportunity.
Basically, let your brand do the talking. As people trust you more and more, you’ll be able to sell more products based on your brand alone.
Have patience building it, and you’ll eventually see the results.
Do you have more questions about how to develop a brand? If you’ve already created one, what kind of decisions did you make? What kind of success have you seen? Let us know in the comments below.