Building your business’s brand is key to ensuring its success over the long-term.

Duh…. that’s pretty obvious.

What is less obvious is how to actually build your brand.  Building a brand is incredibly challenging because it’s not a real physical thing rather it’s the idea of your company in people’s heads.  

So how do you do that?  

Although building a brand is different for every company, this article will walk you through the fundamentals that every brand needs to do to be successful.

Let’s get started.

Be Unique

Being unique is often overlooked by small businesses.  However, if there is something unique about your brand or company, it is much more likely to stick in people’s minds.  

The good news is that you don’t have to have a company culture that has never been seen before or invent products people can’t even imagine yet.  There just needs to be something about your company that is a bit different than your competitors.  

For Apple, it is simplicity and for Coca-Cola it’s that they don’t just sell a sweet beverage, they sell happiness.  

Just figure out a unique aspect of your product or brand and highlight it continuously.  

Have A Memorable Brand Name

Having a memorable company name can make all the difference in how easy or hard it is to build your brand.  

Consider putting some thought into an easy to remember and clear title and slogan for your company.  Bonus points if your easy to remember name is also unique.  

Try to avoid naming your company something too similar to your competitors names.  No one will remember another “ABC mechanic” or “Italian Pizza” business.  

Consistency

You’ll want to pick a brand image and stick to it.  

Brand are built over time and you don’t want to confuse loyal brand fans by continually changing your image.  

So, unless you’ve made a major mistake, just stick to your brand through its perfection and imperfection, eventually it will pay off.  

Stand for Something

If you started or are running your small business just to make money, don’t expect consumers to jump behind that.  

Almost all great brands stand for something.  

Apple stands for simple technology, Patagonia stand for sustainability and Google tries to organize the world’s information. 

People tend to get behind big ideas and goals as Simon Sinek explains in this TED Talk.  

Even if you don’t have as grand of a goal as organizing all the world’s information, there probably is something you stand for or a reason you started the business.  

Figure that out and focus on it, people are much more likely to resonate with it.  

Build Great Products and Services

This seems obvious, but building great products and services (which includes not just the products themselves but how you interact with customers) goes a long way in helping you build your brand.

If you find an opportunity to go above and beyond for a customer, take it.

If you can make your product even better than it is, do it.

Customers will appreciate the extra effort and spread the word, thereby building your brand.  

The only issue with this is that it can be hard to track and difficult to figure out if going above and beyond is worth it or just costing your company money.  

This will inevitably be a judgement call, but unless it is costing you absolutely insane amounts of money, making customers incredibly happy with your product doesn’t hurt.  

Build Relationships with your Customers

Ultimately, it is your customers, not your company that builds your brand.  

As a result, it is always a good idea to invest some time cultivating and nurturing positive relationships with your customers.  

Building a community that is highly vested in your company and cares about what you’re doing will spread like wildfire.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it would be silly to say that building a brand is easy or that there are a specific set of steps you need to take in order to build your brand.  

However, this guide should put you on the right path toward making sure your fundamentals of brand building are covered. 

From here, you’ll have to get creative, figure out what resonates with your customers and do it over and over.

Good luck, we’ll see you on next year’s list of the most valuable brands!