By Sharon Housley

Brand building is indeed a journey. Branding is all
about how your product or service is perceived by
customers and potential customers. A brand marketer
attempts to manipulate brand awareness by associating
traits they would like consumers to associate with the
brand.

Building a brand has everything to do with capturing
the hearts and minds of consumers. Building a brand is
much more than just promoting an image. A brand
incorporates and conveys the values and traits that a
company wants associated with their product or service.
It sounds like building a brand is a simple task, but
the marketers must do more than just create a brand
image. The magnitude of branding encompasses all
aspects of a product. With this in mind, we’ve put
together a guide for marketers on the journey of brand
building…

Protect Your Brand Regardless of whether there are
current brand expansion plans or not, it is a good idea
to register the brand domain in other countries (like
.eu). Registering the brand in foreign markets, even if
you don’t use them, will help protect the brand.
Additionally, be sure to register the brand as
“account” names on the various social networking sites,
if for no other reason that to prevent someone else
from doing so and taking advantage of (or
misrepresenting) your brand.

Defend The Brand Monitor popular blogs, news feeds, and
other online resources for any mentions of your brand.
If there is a mention, such monitoring will allow you
to react quickly if the need arises. Use ego feeds and
Google alerts to receive instant notifications when the
brand is mentioned in the social media.

Develop A Brand Image Develop an image that can be
associated with your brand. Brands tend to be iconic,
and consumers will often associate an image with a
brand. Providing that image will assist consumers with
brand recognition. Small business owners often wear
multiple hats, but graphic design is not for amateurs,
so this is an area that is often worth spending money
on. The graphic image associated with your brand should
be professional and visually appealing.

Brand Consistency Every contact that you have with a
customer or potential customer should reinforce your
brand. Branding should be consistent in all aspects of
your business and promotion. Present the same image and
colors in all aspects of a consumer experience, from
business cards to invoices to web design and so on, so
that they all remain consistent.

Global Brand Concerns The world is much smaller than it
use to be, and this offers businesses an opportunity to
breach new markets. But it also poses a challenge to
small businesses who are unaware of how their product,
logo, slogan, or brand will translate or be perceived
in foreign markets. Be sure to consider and investigate
the global implications of any text, slogans, or images
that you associate with your product or service, and be
aware of how it might impact your brand in the global
market.

Establishing a strong brand can have significant value,
and truly is a journey that companies should embark
upon in their quest to be successful.

About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for
FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for
creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts.
In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll
http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing
software.

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