10 BEST PRACTICES FOR BRAND DEVELOPMENT & STRATEGY

Brand development and strategy are equally heart and science.

It is created from, and centered in, who you authentically are to communicate your value proposition to the world. It is an invitation to the specific people for whom it is most resonant and relevant. You don’t have to guess what they feel, think or want. You already know when your brand is based on key experiences from your own life. When authenticity and purpose drives brand development and strategy, you’ve said goodbye to imposter syndrome and are inviting your “just right” audience to know you. And your success in creating that level of connection is proven every time complete strangers engage with your brand because they feel they already do.

1. Identify Your Unique Value Proposition

What matters most to you? What do you stand for? What sets you apart from the competition? What are your core values and strengths? What experience(s) inform your unique perspective? What are you promising to current and prospective clients?

2. Know Your Target Audience

Who is your ideal client? What is their connection to what matters to you? What experience are they in right now that mirrors one of yours? What do you know about them, their needs, interests and pain points based on your own experience? What else connects you to them?

3. Develop Your Brand Strategy

Your brand voice communicates the personality, inflection, tone and urgency of your message to create connection with your target audience, It comes from that deeply vulnerable part of you that was formed from your key experience(s). And it speaks YOUR truth based on what you felt when you were in that key experience and what you now know.

4. Choose Your Brand Identity

Choose the most resonant visual representation of your brand’s personality, voice and vibe. Visual elements, such as logo, colors and fonts, are designed to be used across all formats, channels and platforms to create, expand and promote brand recognition, connection and engagement. Document guidelines for the key elements of your brand identity to ensure cross-platform consistency, which is essential for conveying reliability and building trust.

5. Build Your Brand Story

Your brand story is a narrative that engages your audience and connects them to your purpose and brand promise. It is authentic, compelling and emotionally resonant. It clearly defines why your value proposition is relevant for your “just right” audience.

6. Establish A Strong Online Presence

Create a clear, streamlined and structured experience for you audience in all  of their touch points with you through brand-aligned content, website copy and social media posts.

7. Use Social Media To Expand Brand Awareness, Recognition + Engagement

Market to those who already know you. Next, leverage social media to expand your reach with content strategies designed for the platforms your audience uses the most.

8. Deliver Quality Content

Brand-aligned and value-added content is essential for positioning you as an expert, building trust, establishing your thought leadership and engaging your audience. Content strategies typically include blogs, social media posts, videos, interviews, podcasts and other formats.

9. Monitor Your Brand Reach + Your Brand Reputation

Establish the metrics and data sources you will use to consistently test your brand message, identity and reach. Pay attention to what is being said about your brand online. Respond quickly and professionally to all feedback, both positive and negative. And actively solicit feedback from your current client base to ensure you are delivering on your brand promise.

10. Stay True To You

Your authenticity, purpose and core values, as the basis of your brand, serve as your true north for all of your business decisions from marketing and sales through product/service development and delivery. They differentiate you to more quickly connect with and engage your target audience. And consistent delivery on your brand promise creates and reinforces the required trust necessary for sustainable growth and long-term success.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Laura Miolla is a Neuroscience-Based, Professional Certified Coach, Consultant, and Mediator who works with executives, entrepreneurs, coaches, and business owners, on the cusp of big change, to passionately and purposefully lead in their lives. Her clients have redefined their relationships, grown businesses and bank accounts, climbed mountains (literally and figuratively), written books, and given TED talks. She hosted a national radio show on divorce called Divorce Sucks: The Smart Girl’s Guide To Doing It Better in 2015, has been a contributing writer and expert for Huffington Post, and is published across the internet in publications, such as Working Mother Magazine, Parents Magazine, Solo Parent, Babble, Unlocked Magazine, Care2, Yahoo! News, Medium, and Thought Catalog.

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