{photo by lolololori, brand strategy}
Once you find your niche within this big ol' crafty, artsy world, you can start building your brand around it.
As small business owners and entrepreneurs, we can actually take a great lesson from the mass-produced products we've come to love (and sometimes loathe) when we explore how their brands were built.
A strong brand can become synonymous with the product itself, above all its competitors. For example, we often say "post-it" instead of sticky note, "kleenex" instead of tissue, "sharpie" instead of permanent marker, and those are just the brands I noticed here on my desk!
These examples show how impactful a strong brand can be for your business. In fact, I'd say that
branding is the most essential tool you have for the success of your business.
All your future marketing efforts will stem from the brand you create. So first, let's explore the more implicit elements of your brand, the stuff your customers can't necessarily see but can definitely feel. These are things like:
- your image
- your personality
- the perception of your product quality
- your customer service
A brand is much more than a good name and cool logo; your brand is your identity, your promise to your customers, what you can deliver. Your brand is the sum of all your parts. It's what customers perceive of your business the second they come to your shop. It's what tells them they'll find something here that they won't find elsewhere and it's what makes them think of you when they think of "silver flower necklaces" or "mushroom paintings" or whatever it is you've found your niche in.
How do you start to build your brand?
Establishing a niche (that thing you do that you do so well) is your first step to defining your brand. As you narrow down your offerings and find what suits you best, you'll come to be seen as "specialist" or "expert" in the products you offer.
This specialist classification creates a sense of quality in the minds of your customers. For example, If I come upon your store and find 20 different t-shirts hand-screened with snarky puns that instantly crack me up, you just established yourself as a "specialist" in funny t-shirts to me. Even before I buy a shirt from you, I might think of your shop as having "the best t-shirts I've ever seen!" That's a perception of quality that you earned before I even held one of your shirts in my hand. That's the power of branding.
2. Consider your Customer
As you think about your name, slogan, web-design, etc, you need to first think about who your customers are: What gender are they? What age range? How much can they afford to spend on the type of items you make? Why would they buy your product over that of your competitors?
Consider your customer and build your brand around who you'd like to attract to your shop. For example, if you think your product would sell well to teenage girls with a rebellious, punky edge, you might want a youthful name, a cool catchy slogan, lots of black and hot pink in your site design, etc.
Often too, if you create within a niche that is
uniquely your own, you will discover that your ideal customer closely
resembles yourself. :)
3. Brand your Personality
Your brand should be bursting forth with your own personality. Bursting!
Remember, you are the most unique aspect of what you create. You are the fundamental difference between your goods and those of your competitors.
Use your unique perspective to your advantage. Your personality is what your customer will connect to, especially when it comes to handmade goods, art and design.
The more of you that you can put into your business name, site design and the actual products you create, the easier your brand will seem to build itself.
Trust
yourself, and your customers will trust you too.
4. Be Prepared to Deliver
A brand inherently makes a promise to its customers, one of quality and service. If you can deliver on those promises, you'll solidify your customer relationships and make them come back for more.
Not only are you expected to provide a quality product, you're expected to provide it in a timely manner and with a smile on your face. Customers want and deserve excellent service, and providing such will only solidify their trust in your brand.
They'll buy from you once because they decided to put their faith in you. They'll buy from you again if you prove to them that your image holds true, that you really are "the brand" you've represented yourself to be.
Your brand is what shakes the hand of your customer when you can't. It's what tells them, "Welcome. Come on in, I'm sure you'll find something you like here." It's what recognizes customers as individuals and allows them to connect and relate to your products.
Think about the brands that you connect with, relate to. Why do you shop at Anthropologie? Why do you trust Macs over PC's? Why do you eat at the local pizza shop instead of Pizza Hut? Think of how you act as a customer and you'll better understand the nature of your own customers, and will be better able to think of your own shop as the "brand" that represents you.
Further reading >> Next 3 steps to build your brand
