The secret of brand building
Brand building is a priority for every founder who wants to build a profitable long-term business. This is how you can do it in the right way.
“So, what you doin?” I asked.
“I’m buildin’ a social media. We’ve some cool new features,” the founder (Steve) answered. “You know, things that nobody has them, it’s super cool.”
“Great, can you tell a little about those features?” I said.
“Sure bro, we’re building a new kind of live videos which is more engaging,” Steve said. “Also we’re working on an AR Reels-like feature.”
“Hmmm…” I took a sip of my tea. “But, aside from all of those features, what’s your brand all about?”
“Well … I just told you, we’re a social media company,” Steve said.
“Yeah … but, social media is your product at this stage,” I said. “Brand is about the bigger picture.”
“What?” he stared at me.
“I think our product is our company and our brand, isn’t it?” Steve said.
“Product is the part of the brand,” I said. “Product comes and go, but brand sticks around. The brand is a belief.”
“I’ve no fuckin’ idea what you talkin’ about,” he said.
No, this isn’t the first time.
I hear this answer over and over again. Too many founders even don’t think about brand building.
But wait, it can also be an opportunity for you. If you build your brand early on, you’ll have an edge.
But how?
Let’s get started.
Have you ever plant a tree?
Imagine you got a seed and a shovel. You start digging a hole and then, you put the seed in the hole. So, what then?
Do you expect that seed to become a thick tree on the very next day? Nope.
It takes a lifetime for a seed to become a big tree.
You’d every single day wake up, nurture your seed to hopefully, one day that teeny-tiny seed will become a big tree — a tree so strong that even storms cannot take it down.
Brand building is the same.
It’s a byproduct of consistency, hard work, and patience (A LOT of patience). You cannot spend millions of dollars on advertising and build a brand (ahem … Quibi).
Because it takes decades to rent a permanent place in people’s minds, right?
“I don’t think so Ali, we can now with advertising do anything.”
Yup, you can run big campaigns to sell a lot of products, offer discounts and provide a more affordable service.
But how much does it last?
Let me tell you something about the brand.
It’s a hard truth for engineers (so let's keep this between ourselves, okay?), but at the end of the day, the brand is your ultimate product.
Why?
Because people buy stories. People buy ideas. And your brand is a belief.
So, how can we build a brand?
Let’s start cooking. Shall we?
First, we need a brand system. What the heck is this?
It’s a one-page doc that includes the story of your brand, mission, vision, visuals, USPs, brand’s feeling, etc — everything that related to your brand.
Keep in mind,
You need to craft a brand story that is believable and inspiring.
And you need to link your brand with a strong feeling/idea.
But how can we find such a strong feeling? Can we come up with something from the top of your mind?
Nah, here’s the formula.
Ask why questions. Ask your team and your customers why they created this product and why they’re using it. Keep asking why questions to reach that Aha moment.
And then, when you found that feeling (e.g., happiness), start promoting it on all of the channels.
Tip: Never stop promoting your brand’s feelings in paid media. Start with $1 every day.
“Ali, how can we promote our brand’s feeling?”
Well … this is a very good question.
“Let’s have our own community.”
This is what I’m hearing constantly from startups in 2021.
But you don’t have to create a huge community around your product to build your brand.
Let me explain it to you.
Tribal marketing is a powerful tool that can help you identify customers based on their common beliefs, not just demographics.
Believe it or not, they’re already communities about everything (incl. your brand’s feeling) on the internet.
Just search on Reddit and Facebook and join those communities.
BUT …
… we’re not talking about pushing people, we’re talking about engaging in those communities and creating values to connecting with them.
Take Red Bull for example.
They connecting with the communities around extreme sports. They’re constantly run contests, sponsor events, and support heroes in those communities. This is how they attract new customers and build life-long relationships with people.
Over to you:
Create your brand system, right now.
Use tribal marketing to identify communities with common beliefs.
Engage and add value to those communities.
Here’s the thing, do you want to build a business that lasts generations?
So go ahead, start building your brand.
You Rock. 🤘