What’s in a Brand?

Businesses usually start with an awesome idea that you just know will resonate with the market. Maybe your product is super unique; maybe there aren’t many options for what you're selling in the marketplace; maybe you're just a total rock star at the service you provide.

You try marketing online using social media, spinning your wheels to get a business going, but business is not picking up. You’re unable to reach customers, you’re not making sales and it seems like no matter what you do, nothing seems to catch on. You know something is missing, even though you can't put into words what it is.

The word you're looking for is branding.

There’s a difference between branding and marketing. This distinction is important to understand, especially on social media.

At its most basic elements, your brand is the feel, look, messaging, and voice you use when creating content on social media. Marketing is the actual posting itself, whether you use organic or paid options.

Here are a few basic questions you’ll need to answer to begin to define your brand:

1. Who is your audience (gender, age, where they live, interests)?

2. What are their fears/wishes/hopes/dreams? How will you address them with your service or product?

3. What can you provide them that the competition can't? *This is called your value proposition.

4. What kind of language will you use to connect with your specific audience? What sentiments will they relate to and which ones will they reject?

5. What does your voice sound like? Is it casual or formal? Does it use slang? Is it feminist? Is it conservative?

6. What type of imagery will you use to connect with your audience? What type will you avoid?

7. What are your exact brand hex colors? *Try using color-hex.com to search through colors and their corresponding codes.

8. What typography do you use when creating printed and digital content? Is it serif or sans? Is it casual handwritten or formal business? *Try using typewolf.com to explore different fonts.

Answering these basic questions will help you determine who you are as a company and know what you want to say, how you want to say it, and who you say it to. You are trying to build trust with an audience, and a consistent brand presence will do that.

All aspects of your brand need to reinforce one another and look the same across every platform: from social media, to your website, to printed collateral and your email signature--every place a customer can find you needs to feel, look and sound the same. This creates brand consistency, which creates a trusting relationship between your company and your customers.

A brand creates a dynamic way for your customers to engage with you, making them feel and act in the way you want them to.

At JHM Creative Co., we know how to build stellar brands that resonate with customers, gaining their trust and sending them through the sales funnel successfully. We help answer the above questions (and many more) to create official Brand Guidelines that will help you understand your business’s place in the market.

Let us do the heavy lifting to get your brand, your marketing, and your business where it should be.