There is a reason brand strategists who know how to build a strong brand can charge top-dollar for their services. There are more businesses in each niche than ever before, so a smart brand building strategy is necessary to differentiate yourself in this crowded marketplace. Follow these five brand building tips to define and exploit your competitive advantage.

1  – Define Your Brand

There are three types of brand, and how to build a strong brand varies slightly depending on your type of brand.

• Service Brand – Offers various forms of service to a specific niche. An SEO consulting firm is a service brand.
• Product Brand – Tied to a specific product mix. The Keurig brand of coffee machines is an example of a product brand.
• Retail Brand – Sells multiple products and often sells many different brands. Your local grocery store is a good example of a retail brand.

Figuring out your brand type is the first step to defining your brand identity. What is your brand’s unique selling proposition? Why should customers choose your brand over your competition?

Use a SWOT analysis to conduct an audit of your current brand identity.

• What are the key strengths contributing to your brand’s success?
• What are the weaknesses do you need to improve to reach the next level of success?
• What opportunities have your strengths put you in a position to capitalize upon?
• What threats exist that could keep your brand from maximizing its potential?

2 – Position Your Brand for Success

Have you ever eaten at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with excellent food and wondered how more people didn’t know about the place? It’s a classic example of bad brand positioning. Such a restaurant offers a great product, but they don’t reach as many customers as they could.

Your brand positioning strategy is how you get your brand noticed by the right types of customers. There are many types of marketing strategies brands use to position themselves in their niche.

One of the most effective marketing strategies is search engine optimization. Creating quality content on a consistent basis that answers the questions your target customer has when they turn to a search engine is the best way to position your brand as a thought leader in your industry.

3 – Develop and Implement an Amplification Strategy

Once you have implemented a keyword and content strategy for your business, you need to amplify that content. This is where social media marketing comes into play.

You need to build a strong community around your brand on social media if you want to increase brand loyalty. Create a Facebook group where your customers can connect with each other, as well as with the employees behind the brand.

Use influencer marketing tools to identify and connect with key influencers in your niche a may be interested in working with your brand. This step requires an investment of time in money, but if you invest well, it has massive reward.

4 – Humanize Your Brand

Today’s consumer has no desire to do business with a faceless brand. This is especially important for brands who target millennials. Don’t lose sight of the fact that part of your brand identity is you.

Be active on social media platforms like Twitter. Interact with your brand’s community and showcase your personality. Make sure that your brand voice is based on your personality. It’s the recipe for an authentic brand.

5 – Measure Results and Tweak Your Brand Strategy Regularly

A brand building strategy is incomplete without a way to measure success. Choose your key performance indicators based on your specific brand goals.

Set up a routine for monitoring your KPIs monthly, weekly, and daily. Tweak your brand strategy to include more of what is working and less of what isn’t.

How t Build a Strong Brand – Recap

Those who know how to build a strong brand follow these five brand building strategies:

1. Define your brand
2. Position your brand for success
3. Develop and implement and amplification strategy
4. Humanize your brand
5. Measure your results and tweak accordingly

Get in touch with us if you need help building and amplifying your brand.