What Strategies Help Build a Strong Brand Identity?

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    Small Biz Leader

    What Strategies Help Build a Strong Brand Identity?

    In the quest to carve out a unique space in the market, we've gathered insights from entrepreneurs and consultants on crafting a strong brand identity. From supporting the community to connecting through shared values, discover the five strategies these business leaders use to resonate with their audience and build trust and loyalty for their brands.

    • Support the Community
    • Create Personal and Consistent Messaging
    • Embrace Founder-Led Storytelling
    • Innovate with Conference Sponsorship
    • Create Connection Through Shared Values

    Support the Community

    If you support the community, the community will support you. We all thrive when we work together positively. By showing appreciation for the community that supports your business, you create a powerful connection. Remember, kindness matters. The good you put out in the world will always come back around. When you give back and show your heart and dedication, people will always remember that. They'll talk about your business and will always recommend you to friends and family.

    Similarly, when you support organizations such as homeless shelters and women's shelters, help raise money for mental health initiatives, and team up with your city to produce programs to help with a drug crisis, all of the people in these organizations will share your incredible dedication to helping people facing challenging times.

    All of this will help build a strong brand identity that people love and trust, and you will be viewed as a kind, compassionate leader with a brand identity that deserves to be supported.

    Michael Wood
    Michael WoodConsultant, Professor, Ottawa Consultants

    Create Personal and Consistent Messaging

    As an entrepreneur, you need to build a strong brand identity. One good way to do this is to focus on consistency across all platforms. This means keeping the same voice, tone, and visual style on your website, social media, and even your product packaging.

    Consistency helps to embed your brand’s identity in the minds of consumers, making it more memorable and recognizable. I think it's important that no matter how or where a customer interacts with your brand, they receive the same core message and experience. This strategy is a great way to strengthen your brand's identity.

    The other thing I would add is to also make your messaging personal where you can. Personal and consistent brand messages really resonate with audiences. I find that being personable and sharing real experiences creates great sentiment.

    Keira Rumble
    Keira RumbleFounder, Krumbled Foods

    Embrace Founder-Led Storytelling

    The biggest game-changer for our UK-based digital weight-loss startup, Second Nature, was to move towards more founder-led branding, i.e. telling the story of why we started Second Nature and our mission of solving the type 2 diabetes and obesity crises. While this may sound obvious, it can be easy in the health and medical world to depersonalize your brand identity and make it overly 'clinical' in feel, but we found the opposite was true.

    Mike Gibbs
    Mike GibbsCo-founder & COO, Second Nature

    Innovate with Conference Sponsorship

    One strategy that I've used to build my brand is conference sponsorship, but not like you might think. Just buying a booth at a conference is not enough. You need to come up with ways to stand out. One example: We emailed all of the attendees, asking them to reply requesting their favorite candy bar, no matter how obscure or foreign it may be, and then we told them to come by our booth to pick it up. Another example: We hosted an event the day before a larger conference. This allowed us to garner the attention of everyone attending the main conference by paying for them to email their attendees.

    Stuart Draper
    Stuart DraperChair of the Board, PodUp

    Create Connection Through Shared Values

    Building a brand that coffee lovers crave is all about creating a connection.

    Sure, we've got the killer beans and unlock incredible flavors with our roasting techniques. But what truly sets us apart is sharing our values. We source ethically, prioritize fresh, high-quality beans, and make getting your amazing coffee fix convenient. Coffee enthusiasts appreciate this—they want to know the people behind their cup care as much as they do. By shouting about these values in everything we do, from website to packaging, we show them we're on the same page, building trust and that all-important loyalty.

    Eric Gantz
    Eric GantzCo-owner, Verena Street Coffee Co.