MODULE 4 – BUILDING YOUR BRAND

Personal branding is the process of developing a “mark” that is created around your name or your
career. You use this “mark” to express and communicate your skills, personality, and values.
Personal brands should be important to everyone. Personal brands are not only for the entrepreneur
that owns their own business. It is the secret sauce that can make you stand out of a stack of
resumes.

If you do not develop your own personal brand others will do it for you. Developing your personal brand is
the proactive way of controlling your career development and how you are perceived in the marketplace. A
strong personal brand will impact your ability to get the right jobs, promotions, and increase your ability to
attract talent and capital.

You can use personal branding in several ways:

 To build your own company as an entrepreneur or consultant

 To market yourself to a company and increase your value as a potential employee
 To build your own credibility for future ventures.

As a brand you increase your value to others, but only if you build your brand strategically so that others are
able to see that value.

MODULE OUTLINE:

1. The Basics of Branding

2. Creating a Brand
3. Managing a Brand
4. Promoting, Extending, and Budgeting your Brand

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Understand basics of branding

2. Create a brand
3. Explain how to manage the brand
4. Promote your brand
5. Discuss about extending and budgeting the brand
 4.1 THE BASICS OF BRANDING

Brands can be defined in two ways. Firstly, a brand can be an identification or a mark that
differentiates one business from another (through a name or a logo, for example). Secondly, a brand
symbolizes how people think about your business. Building a brand helps customers in their decision-
making, creating a perceived knowledge of what they are going to buy — before they buy it. Brands
are based on three related criteria.

Confidence in a business, product or service doing exactly what the customer already
believes it will do. For example, a 24-hour convenience store brand can be based on customers’
confidence that it will be open, whatever the time of day or night.

The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service. For example, a clothing
retailer can create a brand based around making its customers feel good about what they wear, how they look,
how good they feel about buying clothes from that shop and what it says about them to their peers. A brand
builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer

Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the
expected emotional response. For example, a domestic cleaning company can build its brand successfully if
customers’ homes are always thoroughly cleaned, the owners believe that they are using the best cleaning
company and feel good about returning to their newly cleaned homes. Your brand can cover your business as
a whole or separate products and services.

Need of Brand
Every business has already got a brand, even if it does not treat it as one. Your customers (and
potential customers) already have a perception of what your business means to them. Building a
brand just means communicating your message to them more effectively so they immediately
associate your business with their requirements. Brands can help increase turnover by encouraging
customer loyalty and are particularly useful if you are in a fast-moving sector. If your business’s
environment changes rapidly, a brand provides reassurance to customers and encourages their
loyalty.
 If you operate in a crowded marketplace a brand can help you stand out. For example, there
are many kinds of soda, but there is only one Coca Cola. If you have no other points of difference
and when customers are confronted with a wide choice of comparable suppliers, they will always
choose the brand they feel will suit them best. Your suitability for a customer is portrayed through
your brand. Moreover, if you want to add value to your business a successful brand can make
businesses more attractive to potential buyers or franchisees.

Characteristics of Successful Brands

With the volume of competition that businesses face in most industries, it is never been more
important to stand out and develop a unique identity and value proposition through strategic
branding. While it is obviously important to offer a quality product or service, effective branding is
often at the heart of the companies that thrive.
Brand is the perception someone holds in their head about you, a product, a service, an
organization, a cause, or an idea. Brand building is the deliberate and skillful application of effort to
create a desired perception in someone else’s mind.
Let’s explore the common characteristics of successful brands, so you can build your brand
accordingly.

Audience Knowledge

The best brands have a thorough understanding of the demographics of their target market,
what their interests are, and how they communicate. Unless it is a mega chain like SaveMore,
most businesses have a specific target audience they are pursuing. Understanding the target
market is critical because it provides direction for the tone and reach of a marketing campaign,
along with the overall identity of a brand, while helping to create an organic, human connection
between a business and its audience.

Trying to appeal to everyone (i.e., ignoring the concept of a target market) can be
counterproductive, causing a company’s brand to become diluted. Finding the right branding
approach requires first understanding the target market.

Uniqueness

Establishing a brand identity requires something distinctive. For instance, Apple has become known
worldwide for their innovative products and minimalistic, aesthetic appeal.

Creating an identity within a niche does not demand a revolutionary idea. It simply needs to
have one special thing that separates it from the competition. In reality, it is possible to be “a one
trick pony” as long as that trick is really good. Once a company figures out what that is, it can
concentrate on it and should gain recognition in time.
 Do you know what your unique product, service, or selling point is within your niche? If not,
start there when building your branding strategy.

Passion

While it is certainly possible to build a brand in the short-term without passion, it is almost
impossible to sustain it in the long run. When you examine massively successful people like
Steve Jobs, they all have a serious passion that keeps propelling them to work hard and continually
deliver greatness. That passion leads to enthusiasm and genuine joy, which is infectious

Consumers often become just as enthusiastic about a product or service, leading to word of
mouth advertising and referrals. Passion also helps businesses persevere through inevitable setbacks.

Consistency

When consumers come back to a business for repeat sales, they usually expect to receive the same
level of quality as they did the first time. Restaurants and their food and service quality are a great
example of this.
No one wants to deal with a company they cannot rely on for consistency. With so many
industries being saturated with competitors, inconsistency is often enough of a reason for consumers
to take their business elsewhere.

That is why it is so important to adhere to a certain quality standard with a product or service. An
example of a brand who offers amazing consistency is Jollibee. This powerhouse of the Philippine
Fast Food industry provides its patrons with a menu that is consistent across the country. Whether
someone orders from Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao, the ChickenJoy is going to taste the same.

Competitiveness

Gaining an edge in today’s business world is not easy. ©

When it comes to the major players in any industry, none simply sit back and hope that their
consumers will do the work for them. Instead, they tend to be the movers and shakers who work
tirelessly toward building and optimizing their brand, going above and beyond consumer
expectations. The end result tends to be a brand that is continually on the cutting edge of its
industry.

Exposure

Another big part of being recognized as a distinctive, successful brand is the ability to reach
consumers through multiple channels. Obviously, larger companies have an advantage gaining
exposure because they usually have a bigger marketing budget and more existing connections. They
can pay for television commercials, be featured in globally-recognized magazines, and rank highly
in search engine results pages.
However, the Internet and social media have narrowed the gap between small companies
and large ones. There are more tools than ever before which offer any company a chance at
establishing their brand. By developing a presence on networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
and Instagram, anyone is able to reach almost any consumer.

Leadership

Just like any thriving community or sports team, there is typically an influential leader behind every
successful brand. For large companies, this may be the CEO. For smaller ones, it is usually the
owner.
To coordinate the efforts of team members and guide a strategic vision for a brand, someone
has to step up and steer the ship. The leader resolves complications and acts as a liaison between
different departments to keep everyone on the same page. They are also expert motivators and know
how to maximize the strengths of different team members.

Successful brands share these seven common characteristics.

Brand Consistency
Brand consistency across all communication channels of your small business is critical. This will
enable your customers to instantly distinguish your products or services from those of a
competitor.
But first, you have to determine what sets you apart from your competition. Think about
how certain benefits or features of your offerings make your business stand out — why should a
customer buy from you? If you are struggling to find your company’s unique identity, consider
consulting with a brand marketing manager to help you. Once you determine your company’s
image, making sure it is consistently reflected across all facets of your business will ensure your
brand is instantly recognizable, gaining you loyal customers and setting you apart from your
competitors.
 To make certain that your brand is consistent across all media, focusing on these five basic
elements can help you increase the amount of cohesion:

Memorable Tagline and Logo

Develop a logo and a tagline that distinguishes your company from your competition — and
make sure it is used across all facets of your business. Your logo does not need to be fancy,
but it should enable a customer to automatically recognize your products and services, and
identify them with a certain expectation of quality.
Because you already have limited time and a small workforce (which might solely be you),
you can partner with local colleges, graphic artists and marketers to get help with designs. It is
important to make sure that the design reflects you and your unique business, and is simple
enough to be translated across different forms of media such as websites, social media networks
and customer service components.

Recognizable Logo Variations

Make sure your logo variations maintain your single brand identity, while allowing for different
sizing and uses across various media. While a logo might feature a company name or even a
tagline, do not include anything so detailed that it does not work in smaller formats that tend to
be used on social media.

Familiar Colors, Fonts and Imagery

Make sure your colors, fonts and imagery are consistent and easily identifiable. For example, Coca-
Cola’s red and Starbucks’ green are well known and easily identified. It is important to keep your
brand’s color scheme in mind when using filters on Instagram photos and for your logo’s
appearance across media. Also consider how specific colors can reflect your business values. For
example, the color green would work well for a landscaping company, while using brown or gray
would likely convey the wrong message.

Consistent Tone and Messaging

Consider how you want to communicate with your customers. As a friend (i.e., hair stylist or
beauty consultant)? A partner (i.e., a parts supplier)? An authority (i.e., tax services)? Or as
something else? Whatever you decide your messaging to be, make sure it is consistent across all
brand platforms.

As a solopreneur, you might be managing all of your company’s communications and social
media profiles yourself, or you might be outsourcing some of the work. Develop specific brand
guidelines so that everyone managing the different components of your business always
communicate with customers in the same tone and voice.

Ongoing Commitment

Do not just rush out with the first branding idea that comes to mind. It is imperative to make sure the
branding works across all media and for all communications. You can experiment, and can even
leverage social media to inexpensively try small branding experiments until you find something
that works. But make sure that you do not invest too much of your hard-earned revenues into
a branding effort that does not produce the expected benefits or is not consistent. Taking the
time to find the right brand can make all the difference.
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4.2 CREATING A BRAND

Successful branding is the key to outdoing competitors and creating customer loyalty. It requires
careful consideration of your mission, creative thinking and a strong desire to connect with the people
who will ultimately make your company successful. Start by deciding what’s special about your
company, what makes your product worth someone’s time. From there, develop a logo and slogan
that represent your company’s unique spirit, and promote your brand with all your might.

Your small business does not need to be a world-famous household name in order to have a
strong brand.
There is more to your “brand essence” than just your logo and a snappy slogan. Your brand is
the entire sum of what your company does, what you excel at and the experience your customers
have with you. It determines whether customers join your loyalty club a n d refer you to friends —
or don’t bother with you again.
Here are some guidelines for building a strong brand that positions your small business clearly
and effectively in the marketplace, and helps attract repeat business and referrals:
Know Specifically Why you are in Business
In today’s competitive marketplace, you do not want to be a “jack of all trades, master of
none.” While it may be tempting to offer clients a wide menu of products and services, it is
important to keep your brand focused.
Specializing in one thing allows your small business to stand out in the market. Being an expert
in what you do, and doing it better than anyone else, helps the marketplace see you as the #1
source.
Your customers have specific needs, wants, values and characteristics. Ensure your brand lets
them know you understand them, and can serve and satisfy them.
Clearly Define your Brand Promise
Your brand promise is powerful. It is the statement you make to your customers and target audience
that lets them know what to expect every time they interact with you and your employees, products
and services.
A brand promise is based in reality, and it is something you can prove. It is grounded in
your company’s culture, philosophy and atmosphere. It reflects how you serve your customers and
deliver value to them; how you make a problem they have go away; how you make their lives
better. Your brand promise is why they cannot do without you and would never go anywhere else.

If you were to try to think about what these famous brands promise, you might come
up with something like this:
► McDonald’s: fast food with a consistency of taste and service, whether you walk into
one in Timbuktu or Toledo
► Starbucks: quality coffee in an inviting, casual atmosphere — your living room away
from home
► Volvo: cars that offer both safety and luxury

Target Whom You Want to Serve

As discussed above, your small business cannot do everything; likewise, it probably cannot serve
everyone. Day cares, for example, serve parents and families. Guitar stores serve certain musicians.
Obstetricians serve expectant mothers. You need to know who your customers are in order to offer
what they need.
Your customers may skew toward certain demographic or socioeconomic groups. They may
share a particular problem, interest or need. Your brand needs to connect with these people. They are
your target audience, the consumers you specifically aim to serve.
If you do not know who your target audience is, use your existing customers to define some
parameters. While you may know the “80/20 rule” (i.e., 80 percent of your business comes from 20
percent of your clientele), this may provide too wide a sample.
Be Honest and Authentic about Who You Are
Your brand has to talk the talk and walk the walk. Otherwise, you will present yourself
inconsistently and confuse the marketplace.
If you have clearly defined your audience and what sets you apart, authenticity should come
easily. Do not be hip and casual if that is not who you are, or if that is improper for the service
you provide (e.g., a funeral home).
Differentiate Yourself from the Competition
Knowing what you do best and being able to convey that to your target audience means knowing
what you are up against.
With that in mind, you must be aware of your strengths and your weaknesses. Learn how to
accentuate the former and how to address the latter — or, even turn those weaknesses into
positives. For example, if you are a restaurant far away from Main Street, can you position
yourself as a beloved “neighborhood place” for foodies in the know (and with easier parking)?
Keep Your Messaging and Visual Identity Professional and Consistent
From business cards and logo to email newsletters and brick-and-mortar signage, all of your
printed communications and sales materials should look, feel and sound like they come from the
same source.

In terms of messaging, reuse key phrases that are your unique selling points, whether they
are used in your brochure, on your website or in ads. Put your company slogan or tagline on
everything — it is your brand promise boiled down to a catchy, memorable phrase.
Ideally, your brand’s visual appearance and messaging:
► Reflect your brand’s personality and voice.
► Set you apart from the competition.
► Appeal to your target audience.
► Command attention.

Create a Dialogue with your Customers

Sure, you talk to customers when they come in, call or email. That is a conversation. But
conversations end. Dialogues are ongoing.

How can you be interacting with customers even when they’re not doing business with you?
Here are some ways to stay top-of-mind:
► Post video demos of your products or services to your Web site, Facebook page or
YouTube.
► Put a poll on Facebook. It does not need to be related to your business (e.g., ask them
what movie they are going to see this weekend).
 ► Solicit product reviews on your Web site and on Web sites where your products are
sold.
► Hold customer appreciation events so they see you in a new
context; people love to know they matter.
► Share useful information; do not just send advertisements.
► Send email newsletters targeted to your customers’ interests
or purchase histories.
► Share testimonials of satisfied customers.
► Use customer satisfaction surveys.

Give Customers a Great Experience at Every Point of Contact

In our digital age, it is both easier and harder than ever to reach your customers. They are only a click away,
but they may never meet you face to face. Make customer service a core value at all levels of your business,
and become known as a brand that delivers a terrific experience. Your customers will reward you.

The first thing car-sharing company Zipcar does when its customers report they have been in an
accident? Ask them if they are safe and in a warm place. Think of everything you do in terms of customer
service, even if you are not directly dealing with customers. Consider the impressions they get when they:

► See your ad, mailing, Facebook page, newsletter or Web site

for the first time.
► Walk into your place of business.
► Call you.
► Place an order over the phone or Web.
► Send you an email inquiry.
► Sign up for your mailing list.
► Return to make another purchase.

It is Easier than you Think

These tips may seem to take a lot of effort. At the outset of establishing and building your brand, you
might have to do a little homework. Once you get going, though, it gets easier, more routine and
more instinctive — as long as you know your market, trust your intuition, maintain consistency and
be yourself.
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4.3 MANAGING THE BRAND
A brand will not work instantly — it will develop strength over time as long as your business consistently
communicates and delivers your brand values to customers.

Whether you like it or not, we all have a personal brand we must manage. Whether it is owning your
own company, interviewing for a job or acting as a public figure, how you see yourself and how
others view you is important to your success.
 Managing and leveraging your personal capital takes constant effort and great awareness. These five tips
are going to help you focus in on what you should be tweaking and perfecting to gain the confidence you need
to build a strong image and stay relevant.

Ditch the Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a 30-second summation of something, usually a business, product, service,

new venture—or you. Having been on the receiving end of many a personal elevator pitch, it usually
comes off as robotic and socially ungraceful. Instead of an elevator pitch, tell a story. People hate
being doused with fact sheets, but they love stories. Who are you? What are you passionate
about? The key is building a narrative around your career journey that draws people in.

Looks Matter, But Not How You Think They Do

Ask yourself, “When people look at me, what do they see?” This includes communication style,
attire, and grooming. You would be surprised by how many careers have been sidetracked by body
odor or bad breath. Like it or not, your looks will be judged by others, including things as small
as chipped nail polish. Consider all the things that are an extension of you and assess whether
they are “on brand.” Build your personal brand and image in a way that reflects the best
business version of you.

Be Social Media Wise

The evolving digital landscape has opened up countless meaningful opportunities to develop and
capitalize on your personal brand. Social media, once considered important only for personal
reasons, now has broad professional applications. Be smart about what you are choosing to post
and where.

Build Trust

A key aspect of managing a successful personal brand is building trust with your audience, the
public or your colleagues. If you are selling a product then it is crucial you achieve this step. One
way to build trust is to deliver on your promise. If you say you are going to do something,
then do it. If you say you are going to follow up with someone, then do it. If you say you are going
to give someone a refund because they had a bad experience with your product, then do it. You get
the point. The only way to build trust is through action and consistency.

Engage

Building a brand is about creating a relationship, not a one-way communication vehicle. The worst
thing you can do is to engage intermittently on social media or your blog, if your intention is to
have an active digital brand. Establish your digital presence with a strong plan and be committed
to maintaining what you start. Make sure your messaging is consistent across all channels, and that
the story you tell in your real life matches what you live online. Whether in person or online, it is
not enough to consider the message and image you are putting out to the world; you must engage
in two-way dialogue to build a relationship in person or to create an online following.

Monitor Your Reputation

You are feeling good about what you have accomplished so far and so you start to relax and get
a bit too comfortable. This is exactly when surprises emerge and reputations are challenged. You
need to be constantly managing, listening and perfecting your personal brand so you remain in the
driver’s seat. Do not just sit around and wait for stuff to happen. Get out there and network and
show the world what you have got to offer. It does not matter who you are or where you are
in your career, we all need to be aware of our reputation and take notice of how we are perceived
by others.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

A well-considered personal brand is pivotal to growing your career. Authenticity and consistency
are the keystones on which your brand will be built. Figure out what makes people want to
follow you or listen to you, and use that as a guiding point for your personal brand. Inspire others
by the story you are telling.

Managing your personal brand is a practice that will help you succeed in your personal and
professional life. By following these tips you will be on your way to a brighter and better you.

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4.4 PROMOTING, EXTENDING, AND BUDGETING YOUR BRAND

Whether you are self-employed or work for someone else, one of the most important aspects of
business is personal branding. If you want to be successful, it is essential to understand how to
effectively and accurately promote yourself and your ‘brand’.

Here are some tips to promote your brand so that when you open your business, rebuild
your business you have a plan and a process in place.

If it is Easy, Everyone Would Do It!

Creating a memorable brand is not easy and it should be a lot of work. Your brand is your
company, product or service. It needs a Unique Selling Point (USP) that is yours and yours alone
that you can deliver, own and provide better than anyone. You need to focus on this and fine
tune it. Do not pick five things. Pick one and own it.
What you do best should not be offered by everyone. How you sell yourself has to be
unique. It will be hard and frustrating. You will want to give up and throw anything out there.
But if it was easy, everyone would do it. Take the time, commit the funds and do it right.

Make your Brand Memorable

Research your competition. Learn about the colors that will resonate with your target audience.
Research by paying someone to test your final logo and design.
Find out what is out there and test for trademarks, copyrights, taglines that many, many,
many business owners never bother to check. They think they are the only clever people out
there and create something that is going to get them sued because it is already in use.
Be original. Hire experts. Skip the DIY. Test it. Retest it. Copyright it. Trademark it.
Own it. Pay for a designer and do not be cheap or you will look cheap.

Take your Brand Everywhere

We always tell clients to create a memorable brand, take it everywhere. Put it on everything and
take it everywhere. It should be visible on your daily person whether in a uniform, a pin, pen,
notebook, computer case, hat, T-shirt, pants, phone cover, folders, car or vehicle wrap, bags,
giveaways, etc. Carry your briefcase through the airport with your logo on it and see how many
people ask you about it. See it. Hand out pens etc. and you have taken your brand somewhere it
will sit for a while.
Do not be ridiculous and always be tasteful. If you are spending thousands on premium items
instead of advertising and marketing you have more problems than we can fix here.

If you have your brand with you there is no reason why you cannot promote it everywhere you
go. If you sell zippers, carry them with you so that they are always available. If you sell a service
then your brand logo should be on your person or carried with you every time you leave the
office. You are a walking billboard for yourself and your brand.
Protect Your Brand
Protect what your brand looks like by using the same logo, font, colors, message, visuals, content,
story and use it everywhere. Do not recreate your brand and have 10 versions of a logo or a print
ad, or a poster or a palm card.

Use the same everything that is on your website and take it to your business card, your
uniform, your advertising, delivery vehicles, notebooks, office window decal, client binders, T-
shirts, hats and other premium items.
If your colors are red and black, your other company items should be red and black. You have to
brand yourself to the point where people get sick of seeing you in the same colors all the time.
Who cares if they tire of it? They know you by your colors and your uniformity. Brand it in their
minds so that it’s recognizable.

Study Iconic Brands

If you doubt these branding methods, then take a look at the iconic brands: Tide, Coke,
Campbell’s, Apple, Sony. They keep the short, simple, consistent look everywhere their brand is
seen. They do not change. They have survived and there is no question what brand means
what.
Sure they do special editions, holiday themes but when you are a billion dollar brand as
they are, you can pick and choose your special editions and people will make collector’s items out
of them. Stick with the brand plan in the meantime.

Do not get Stuck

Do not get tunnel vision on any one aspect of your brand. Do not get obsessed with the logo or
stuck on one little thing. Have vision. Look ahead and have a 10,000 foot view for your brand.
If you cannot come up with a tagline and it is holding up your business, turn it over to
an expert and hire them to create one. If you keep redoing your logo because you want it to be
cool and hip, stop it. Stop it now. You are obsessing over minutia.
If you are focused only on your logo, you have real problems because you are not looking at
the bigger picture. Stay focused on the overall brand and how you want your target audience to
remember and recognize it.
Yes, make the logo a priority. Do not spend all your time creating it. Ditto for business cards or a
T-shirt or a pen or a color on your website header. They are all a part of your marketing plan and
need equal amounts of attention!
You Are Not Your Target
On the whole logo issue…it does not matter if you like it. You are not your target. Want to turn
your target off, then create something that you like.
If you sell video games to 16-year-old teenage boys who play five hours of video games daily,
but you are a 40-year-old male with two children, married and play one hour of video games
daily, you cannot think like or react like your target audience.

Promote your Brand

Let’s use one of the favorite brand Coca-Cola, as an example of successful promoter. Over one
billion people drink Coke every day. Coca-Cola can teach you how to promote a brand correctly.

Start with an advertising budget which was Coca-Cola’s key to success.

Coke has a compelling story but not about its originator John Pemberton, but about the Asa
Candler who eventually owned the brand and turned it around with advertising.

The actual creator of Coke

could not move the brand. The
businessman who took the time
to build the brand became
successful. He took it out of the
soda shops and put into bottles
which made a formerly non-
portable product, portable.

Think about promoting your

brand the way that Coke did. Find
that unique selling point and market the hell out of it. Do the thing you think cannot be done
and sell that.

The brand visual makes you thirsty when you see it because you have seen it for so long in
conjunction with the beverage. Your mind tells you are thirsty when you see the Coca-Cola logo
because you have been conditioned through advertising to experience the beverage.
They use a mnemonic (bottle popping open, Coke fizzing, beverage being poured into a
glass full of ice) in TV, radio, print, online that is so intrinsically tied to the brand that your senses
are triggered.

You can experience it through the memories of it. You smell it, taste it, thirst for it. That is
not a mistake. Coke spent millions developing and delivering its brand where you drink it,
where you buy it, and by controlling how it is sold. The logo alone now has the ability to recall
the actual senses you use in its enjoyment.

This promotion is done in food advertising, for example, a pizza company. Pizza is not for
breakfast. It is for lunch. But it is most known for dinner. That is why the pizza companies run
commercials during the times of day when they know you will call and order it. You will see,
hear and actually crave pizza as they show hot, sizzling pizza covered with gooey cheese, thick
spicy-looking pepperoni. Your mouth waters for it.

That is what’s called a see and say: Say it as you show it. You see the food as they say its
qualities in carefully crafted food descriptors.

You, the viewer, see the brand as they say the brand and you are drooling for that brand of
pizza. You want it.

It is sensory overload and it is a science. Read about it and learn it so that when people think,
say and see your brand they will want it just as much.
You may not be selling a world-renown beverage or a hot and now pizza. But the brand
deliverables and your marketing plan should be the same.
If you position your brand correctly in front of your target audience when they are most
receptive to it and maintain a market that actually craves the product in some way so much
so that it is included in a part of its lifestyle, your brand will be successful.
FYI: For those who don’t have advertising and marketing budgets today, here’s a little- known
fact: Coca-Cola was spending $500,000 annually on advertising in 1906.
The marketing square has provided proven web results for clients whose websites are built
using advertising-based marketing plans. We fine tune client strategy to sell products or services
everywhere.

Online Brand Promotion

Online brand promotion is easy. Getting people to pay attention is difficult, and getting people to
share and care is even harder. Promote your brand in a way so that users willingly share your
content. People seem to think that having a little social media success is a sign they are good at
brand promotion, and yet they cannot understand why their products/ services are not selling and
why their online traffic is not converting. Small business and startups in particular have financial
limitations for promotions, so they need to get creative. There are several online brand promotion
options, here are nine tips to help you promote your brand online.

Social Sharing of your Web Content

Online brand promotion is not just sharing your content on the web. It is not enough for
people to see your brand on social networks. Everyone is doing that nowadays. What you
need to do is to target networks your target market frequents and engages in, and get
them to share your web content. You need to establish your brand as an authority in that
niche. For example, if your business is in arts and crafts, you can get quite a following on
Pinterest and YouTube. If you are a travel agency, you can create a significant presence in
Facebook and Twitter. The key is to provide targeted and shareable content regularly on
all the relevant networks. You can try using a social management tool to schedule posts.
Social networks are a great way to drum up interest, but it is so fluid and widespread that
it can be hard to keep up with it. You may be making the mistake of focusing all your
energies on making a hit on social networks that you neglect other important aspects of
your business, such as your website, and your actual business! You need to make sure
that you also keep up with quality content on your website. Choose what aspects of social
media and which platforms can give you the best results in terms of brand marketing. This
way, you will have time for other things.
Affiliate Advertising in all Shapes and Forms
It is easy to get into an affiliate network, and the best thing about it is that you only pay
when you get results. There are no upfront costs, which can be very enticing for a small
business or startup. This can work very well if your purpose is to sell quickly. However,
if you are trying to build your brand, you may be better off with a more direct form of
affiliate marketing, such as paid searches using a service such as Google AdWords. The
benefit of this is that you can test the market to find out how to drive target audience to
your website. You can start small, as little as P200-300.00 a day, until you find the right
combination of keywords that drive traffic most effectively.
Online Brand Promotion Using Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
Influencers and bloggers are a great way to get the word out on your brand if you can get
them to pay attention to you. You can offer them freebies or discounts as an incentive to
give you a little of their time. For example, you can send out product samples to influencers
for them to try, and invite them to post honest reviews and feedback on social networks
and your website. You can do the same for bloggers, and get them to post reviews on their
blogs. Most people check online review before they buy anything, and if an influencer or
reputable blogger gives you a thumbs up, that is great. You also create credible links back
to your website, and you might even get a video you can embed on your website. That
would be the best possible scenario. Easy, right? Well… Remember that these are big fish
in what may be a small pond, so you are not the only one trying to get them to what
amounts to endorsing your brand.

Useful, Engaging, Interesting and Inclusive Content

Of course, content is still king when it comes to your own website. You should make sure
that you have a good blog on your site where you can post top-quality content regularly.
If writing is not your strong suit, you can always outsource some of that to professional
writers, or invite people to contribute content. Search engines, particularly Google, puts a
premium on organic and relevant content, so this helps your site rank higher in the keywords
you are targeting. In addition, if you prioritize providing high-quality content, your readers
will be more than happy to help make your site more authoritative by sharing them on
social media, maybe even their own blogs!

Remember that content is

not just about text. Infographics, videos, and awesome images are just as valuable and
searchable in brand marketing. Focus on creating something interesting, unique, and fresh
that reflects and refers to your brand without making it a hard sell. You should also make
sure that you can make it easy for your readers to share your content by including share
buttons above the fold, on the image or video, and provide embed codes. Make it easy for
them and they will share it.

Off Domain Content

Granted that you have made your website content relevant and shareable, you are still
limited in reach. It is like gaining popularity in high school, but getting no traction at all
in the larger world of college. You need a strategy that also creates off-domain content in
microblogs to put your brand message and story out there. Microblogging uses short
snippets, images, or short videos to tell a story, which distinguishes it from traditional
blogging. Twitter is a good platform for this type of posts, and so is Snapchat. It all
depends on the persona of your target audience. It is not the same as social network sharing,
because what you trying to do with off-domain content is to update your readers about what
is happening with your brand, and keep it in front of your audience.

Promote Your Brand on Their Websites

Referrals are always good. You can give your brand a jump-start by asking family, friends,
and co-workers to share a link to your site on their social networks, blogs, or
microblogs.
 You can incentivize them to do this by offering discounts or freebies for each referral. You
can offer the same thing for referrals that also refer to others.

Engage with the Online Community

Your brand is bound to appeal or be relevant to a particular niche, and
each niche is bound to be involved with some online communities. You
can jumpstart your brand marketing by getting involved in one or more of
these communities. Make sure that you do more than promote your brand
or business, however, or you might get blackballed, or at least get a
negative reputation which can reflect on your brand. Make your presence
felt in a positive way by answering questions, contributing expert or at
least practical advice, and generally making yourself a useful member of
the community. This will establish you as an authority in the field, and
create a relationship with other members. Brand marketing is not just for
the big players. A small business or startup can make great inroads into
brand marketing at minimal cost with a little creativity and a lot of elbow
grease. However, there are no shortcuts in this business. You have to be
willing to play the long game for appreciable results.

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EXTEND THE BRAND

A successful brand can offer opportunities for a business to grow. However, if you are
introducing new products or services, you must make sure they are consistent with your existing
brand values.
Stretching a brand too far reduces its strength and can damage it. If you are introducing new
products or services, consider carefully if they fit with your core competencies and brand values. If
they do, brand them in the same way as your existing products and services so they benefit from
your existing branding. If they don’t, you should consider branding them separately.
If your new products or services remain within your core competencies but not your brand
values, you can consider a diffusion brand. A diffusion brand is a different message with its own
identity tied to your existing brand. For example: An insurance company’s core competence is
getting things put right after they go wrong. If it introduces a new service that repairs items rather
than pays for their replacement, it should be a diffusion brand: the Fixit Service from XYZ
Insurance.
Remember that any problems with a diffusion brand will also damage your main brand, so
treat the diffusion brand with similar care. If your new products or services fit neither your core
competencies nor your brand values, you must brand them separately.

The Golden Rules

Creating and running a brand is not a black art. Once it has been created, following some
simple rules should ensure its continued effectiveness. Always think about what your business
achieves for your customers and structure your business to achieve it. Be focused on your
customers’ needs, but never let your customers dictate to you. It is your brand, not your customers’.
If you change your brand values just for one customer, you will damage your brand. Do
everything you can to make sure that the brand message is delivered consistently.
From company letterhead to the way the phone is answered, your customers should always feel
that you are providing them with exactly what your brand promises. Keep your staff involved with
your brand. More than anything else, your employees will be responsible for making the brand work.
Make sure that everyone believes in it and encourage and take notice of any suggestions they may
make to improve the delivery of the brand message.
Meet and exceed what your brand promises to customers. Failing to deliver a brand promise just
once will damage your brand. Delivering your brand promise — and doing it better than your
customer expects — will strengthen your brand.
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BUDGETING FOR A BRAND
As you are building and managing your brand, it is also a good idea to set a budget. This
will help you to avoid spending unnecessarily and to prioritize your brand spending.
Your brand should encompass most areas of your business, from stationery to how you deliver
your product or service to customers, so defining a budget can be difficult.
The key areas you could budget for are:
► design needs, such as a logo, signage, business stationery or
product packaging
► changes to your premises
► your advertising
► time you will need to spend training employees
► any resources you will have to provide for employees to
enable them to carry out what the brand promises, e.g.
customer service costs
► keeping your website and social media pages updated

You do not need to do everything at once. As long as employees understand and deliver what your brand
promises, it stands a good chance of success.
You can create stationery, logos, packaging and advertising quite cheaply if the budget is tight.
However, it is a good idea to think about your future growth when devising your image, as changing it later
can prove costly. You may also find that customers and employees will have already built up a relationship
with your brand, which can then make it more problematic to later change.

MODULE SUMMARY:
 Personal Branding is the process of developing a “mark” that is created around your name or your
career. You use this “mark” to express and communicate your skills, personality, and values.
 Brands can be defined in two ways. Firstly, a brand can be an identification or a mark hat differentiates
one business from another (through a name or a logo, for example). Secondly, a brand symbolizes how
people think about your business.
 With the volume of competition that businesses face in most industries, It has never been more
important to stand out and develop a unique identity and value proposition through strategic branding.
While it is obviously important to offer quality product or service, effective branding is often at the
heart of the companies that thrive.
 Brand consistency across all communication channels of your small business is critical. This will
enable your customers to instantly distinguish your products or services from those of a competitor.
 Successful branding is the key to outdoing competitors and creating customer loyalty. It requires
careful consideration of your mission, creative thinking and a strong desire to connect with the people
who will ultimately make your company successful.
 Your brand promise is powerful. It is the statement you make to your customers and target audience
that lets them know what to expect every time they interact with you and your employers, products and
services.
 From business cards and logo to e-mail newsletters and brick-and-mortar signage, all of your printed
communications and sales materials should look, feel and sound like they come from the same source.
 A brand will not work instantly – it will develop strength over time as long as your business
consistently communicates and delivers your brand values to customers.
 Whether you are self-employed or work for someone else, one of the most important aspects of
business is personal branding. If you want to be successful, it is essential to understand how to
effectively and accurately promote yourself and your brand.
 Online brand promotion is easy. Getting people to pay attention is difficult, and getting people to share
and care is even harder. Promote your brand in a way so that users willingly share your content.
 A successful brand can offer opportunities for a business to grow. However, if you are introducing
new products or services, you must make sure they are consistent with your existing brand values.
 As you are building and managing your brand, it is also a good idea to set a budget. This will help you
avoid spending unnecessarily and prioritize your brand spending.

-END OF MODULE-