Two Questions to Determine Your Brand

You probably hear it everywhere, “you need good branding”, “represent your brand”, “make sure this reflects your brand”, etc, etc, etc! OK, great! But how do I figure out what my brand is???

Ultimately, your brand is a combination of what people think of when they think about your business and the message that you want to convey to your ideal clients. (For more about what, exactly, branding is, check out my previous post.)

When it comes to creating a brand, many businesses get stuck on how to get started. There are two simple questions that you can ask yourself to begin to determine your brand. The answers aren’t always easy (I said simple, not easy!) to find; however, the questions will give you a starting point and that’s often the hardest part.

Here’s where you grab some paper and a pen. Get comfy. Ready? Go!

Question #1 – What do people say about your business?

What would people say about your business if you asked them? What are the benefits and advantages of using your services or products? What adjectives would they use to describe you and your business? For example, are you savvy, fun or authoritative? Is your product or service reliable, unpredictable or unique?

Make a list of benefits and adjectives that you hear from your associates, customers, and prospects. Keep in mind that your associates may think differently about your business than prospects, and prospects may think differently than customers. All your stakeholders may see your brand differently, that’s the beauty in this exercise! It’s important that your brand image is unified between all groups but it gives you a broad view to start.

Question #2 – What do you want people to say about your business?

What do you want people to say about your business if their friends asked them? If you could control people’s thoughts, what would you make them think when they hear your name or business name?

The brand image that you have and the one that you want may be different. It’s important to understand your current reality clearly but to also identify your brand goals. When you have a picture of both, you can create a solid brand and begin taking steps so that the image in the minds of your prospects and customers is the image you want them to have!

Now What?

OK, so you humored me and made some lists…but now what?

• Look over the words that you want people to think when they think about your business.
• Begin aligning those words with the words that people perceive to be the advantages and benefits of working with you.
• Where these 2 steps overlap, leads to the position you want to have in your prospect’s mind.
• When you identify this, you’ll begin to see your brand image taking shape.
• Compare your complete lists from the two questions.
• Is your actual brand what you want it to be?
• If not, it’s time to start making some changes.

Now you have a base to begin building your brand effectively!

If you could use some help getting to the next level in your branding process, check out the Brand Identity Worksheets!!

These worksheets will guide you through exactly what you need to create a brand identity that represents your business.