Whether you are thinking about starting up a new brand, or have been working on one for years, you should always be striving to create the brand you really want. Creating a brand is more than just a great idea, it also needs to be executed perfectly.
So, Where Do You Begin?
Business Plan
Well, if your brand is already set up and on the go, then you can skip this step. However, if you’re in the stages of thinking about starting up a brand, you need to have a solid plan and idea. Have you looked into any potential competitors? Have you thought about how you can stand out from them? There are endless amounts of questions you should be asking yourself. Not only that, but you should make sure you’ve done some solid market research, this can include talking to potential consumers through focus groups and interviews, or using trend sites such as Mintel, to see if what you’re offering, is what people are actually wanting right now. You need to make a solid business plan, including your mission, what you’re offering, market analysis, strategy and objectives.
Creating Your Brand
Once you’ve got your idea and plan in place, now it’s time to get branding! This can include; a logo, colour scheme, icons, typography, and these are just a few of the things you need to be creating. Branding is the key to customers recognising your brand, and not only recognise, but to entice them in at first glance. Some brands opt for really simple branding, for example Nike, has a very simple logo that everyone can recognise. You don’t want to get over complicated and you will want the whole brand to flow.
Get Digital
The next step you need to take, is setting up your brand online, this includes creating a website and setting up social media accounts, so you can interact with your customers. Your website is where you can really sell your brands services or products. Having a strong web design, can instantly make your brand more trusted than those that are in serious need of an update. The digital world moves so quickly, so it’s not a matter of a website being made and that the end, you will need to revisit the design from time to time.
Set Up Your Marketing Plan
You’ve got your brand all set up, and now it’s time to get marketing. If you want to be pulling in clients, or selling products, you need to be marketing. There are so many different ways you can be doing this, you can go for traditional marketing, for example print advertising, which can be put onto billboards, newspaper, or flyers. However, the way forward is to go digital. There are so many channels you can go down on digital marketing, including social media, email marketing, digital PR, remarketing, Google shopping, SEO and more! Pre-launch, on launch and post-launch you will want to be creating campaigns, to give your brand the best start in business.
All of this is achievable, but it does require a lot of time, effort and investment. You’ve got to be all in when it comes to creating the brand you really want, and you will need the expertise around you. You will need to be constantly revisiting your business plan and marketing plan, to keep optimising and pushing your brand to it’s full potential.
Here at Fifteen, we offer services that can cover most of this for you, from branding, to website design, to your marketing strategy. Have a look through our website, or visit some of our case studies, to see what we have done for other brands.
