It takes more than just offering genuine goods to your customers to build a truly authentic brand identity. It involves more than just being truthful with your pricing and materials. Establishing a strong connection between your brand identity and the target market or consumer base is essential to being authentic in your branding.
You must develop your brand identity authentically if you want to have a successful business with clients or supporters who are devoted to YOUR knowledge, service, or product. Your company must have your distinct voice and ideals. You absolutely must be truthful with your clients. However, you must also be honest with yourself about who you are and the goals you have set for yourself.
The four easy stages listed below will assist you in creating a genuine brand identity for your business, whether you’re an influencer or blogger, a professional service provider, a product line, or something else entirely.
How To Build Authentic Marketing & Brand Identity
1. Stop making comparisons!
For the past few weeks, I have been engaging in this game. That’s what inspired me to write this article. You see, I’ve been observing other business influencers on Instagram for a while now. By observing, I mean that I’ve been enamored with their chic looks, well-preserved professional portraits, flawless lifestyles, well-organized workspaces, etc. I’ve realized that, although studying other brands in your sector is a GOOD thing (consider competitive analysis), I’ve been preoccupied with figuring out how to make my brand identity appear more like these other accounts than it is.
I started to feel depressed because I didn’t have enough space to create the ideal office backdrop for videos I wanted to make for my website and training courses. I had a notion that I would choose several typefaces to make my drawings resemble their delicate and lovely style. In my dreams, I would purchase more fashionable apparel and hire a professional photographer to capture staged images of my family and me for promotional purposes. The list is endless.
Then I caught myself and asked myself, “What am I thinking?” I’m watching some others, and they have AMAZING businesses. They are creating AMAZING structures. A lot of them inspire me. Nevertheless, they are working on and marketing their product.
If I attempt to emulate them, what will I be selling that the market isn’t currently offering? It’s not possible for me to ever become them. To be honest, I wouldn’t be conducting honest business that way, thus I will constantly just feel discouraged. I have things I need to do.
Playing the comparison game will not help you develop an authentic brand identity or engage in effective marketing. While analyzing competitors might be beneficial, you should stop trying to copy them and become someone else’s brand identity if this is your only strategy.
2. Pay attention to who YOU wish to be and who you are attempting to draw in.
I refocused on my target market and business after averting my gaze from the other exquisitely designed companies in my niche. (If you haven’t yet, go here to read this post on creating a target market.) I considered the following very significant questions:
- Who do I want to be, or who do I want my company to be?
- Who am I attempting to draw in?
In my case, I’m attempting to draw in and support individuals who are juggling a business with being a busy mom. Beside them, in the mess, I want to be a mom constructing things. I don’t want to use contemporary fashions, stunning visuals, or a flawlessly set film backdrop to truly develop my brand. I want to be honest with people and meet them where they are—in the chaos.
I also want to let them see some of my mess. The other brands look great and have a polished appearance, so they’re not wrong! I may record my videos while perched on the floor in front of the only empty wall in the house.
3. Don’t skip on effective advertising and design.
When I suggest that we shouldn’t measure ourselves against idealized models, I do not mean to imply that you should accept subpar marketing and/or design. If your goal isn’t to draw in CEOs or designers, then you shouldn’t promote bad photos and jumbled material. It’s crucial to keep in mind that we are all drawn to those polished accounts since we all have a sense of beauty.
I genuinely want to support moms in their messy lives, yet I’m constantly trying to make my marketing and design better. Instead of comparing, strive to continuously enhance how your brand is presented.
I’m going to capture photos of my kids playing around on the untidy living room floor, and I’ll do my best to edit them so they look good. I’m going to record myself while I’m sitting on my floor, but I’m going to try my hardest to get the best possible lighting and audio for that video. I’ll do less delicate marketing graphics, but I’ll try to maintain consistency in my use of typefaces and colors. You understand.
4. Express gratitude for rejections or unsubscribes.
I just thought it would be good to remember this, so I wanted to put it in writing.
Do you own an email list and find it disheartening each time someone unsubscribes? (I still find this difficult.) Or did the rejection of a pitch sap your motivation? AVOID LETTING YOURSELF REMAIN STILL. Be joyful and let it roll! Contacts on your email list who aren’t interested in what you have to offer shouldn’t cost you money. The fact that one individual wasn’t interested in what you have to offer shouldn’t mean you have to stop providing value to others who DO want it.
Unless you’re an extreme outlier, not everyone will be a good fit for your brand! You don’t want to attract everyone
In conclusion, you won’t attract followers, clients, or prospects who are interested in what YOU are attempting to accomplish or offer if you attempt to BE someone else. Simply be yourself!
← DRAG YOUR CLAN IN. AIM NOT TO STEAL FROM ANYONE ELSE ←
I recently came across this quote on Instagram, and it struck a chord with me as I organized this content:
“Sunflowers would become weak if they attempted to resemble roses.” Matshona Dhliwayo
Your firm won’t be nearly as successful if you’re attempting to be someone else as opposed to utilizing what YOU have to offer.
