Branding is one of the most used buzz words that are being thrown out in meetings, it is used for many things like personal brand, business branding, off-brand. It is a word that can be used to describe what your company or self is really about. You use this as a descriptor when you are explaining your identity, voice, and what you want your customers to perceive your company as. Here are some tips that you can use to make sure you brand your business in the most efficient and effective way possible.

 
Understand Your Audience

The best way when first trying to create a brand identity within your company is to understand your audience. The best way to do that is to create personas for your ideal customers. For example, I will create a primary and secondary target audience and from there I would create a fictional individual that will match the ideal person from each of the target audiences. You things that you will list are things like demographics, jobs, education, and hobbies that they might enjoy. Doing this will make you see things from the perspective of the customer, you will get an understanding of what they really want and from then on you will be able to market to them in the best way possible.

Utilize Social Media

It is stated that 79 percent of the U.S. population use some sort of social media weekly. Social media is the best way to differentiate yourself from other companies that offer almost the same item or service that you provide. Social media is also the cheapest form of advertising. It can have an astounding effect on company perceptions from an outside audience. A great example of this is Wendy’s. They have created a brand voice that is full of satire and comedy on all of their social media.

 
Make Customers Your Number One Priority

 You can never have a great brand if you have a bad reputation with your customers. You can save money on advertising and marketing because when you have the reputation of a great company word spreads. So focusing on customer service will always pay off in the long run. Thinking about this from a customer perspective, think about what you do when you are a first-time customer for a company. You look at their reviews and their reputation. This where you can brand yourself without marketing and advertising. Individuals will always trust the word of others way more than things that your company will put out.