Virily Editor
When you are a new brand, you do want the best results for your efforts, and will attempt to promote in as many situations as possible, including Instagram. However, building your brand is more than that – you need to establish a proper foundation of understanding and trust with your customers, not just getting into the trends on social media.
Yet, many businesses seem to forget that and say they aim to conquer the world of Instagram. However, the best way to utilize your social media prowess is using the platform as a marketing tool, not as a means of establishing a foundation for your brand.
Similar to other platforms of social media, Instagram is not guaranteed to last forever. You risk reducing your brand’s potential if you rely on it too much, or even any other social media platform. This is why you do not need to build your brand for Instagram – it is better to help it outlast social media. Read on for some steps on that.
Developing a proper strategy and positioning
In the long term, a proper strategy will help you set your activities to develop your brand successfully and ensure you are achieving the objectives and milestones you have set.
You need to consider three elements when setting the brand strategy. Knowing yourself is one, since you need to know the values, vision and mission you plan to achieve. They will also help you when problematic issues come up, because you will know the best way to handle them. In the simplest terms, it is figuring out why your brand exists, where you want to go, and the ways you want to achieve that.
The second part is knowing the customer, since they are the reasons why your brand is offering the service or product. You need to incorporate them into your brand story and encourage them to take part in the journey, and this will encourage them to be loyal to your brand, in addition to creating a highly engaged audience.
The customer is also a potential marketer, thanks to spreading of user generated content and word of mouth marketing. Third party tools make it possible for you to know who your customers are and get instant feedback on your products or services.
The third is to understand your competition, regardless of whether it is indirect, direct, or external. Direct competitors make the same products or offer the same services as you, the indirect ones are in the same industry but offer different things, and external factors are beyond your control. Understanding all these things will help you create proper strategies and help you stand out from the competition.
Designing a brand identity
When you already have a good understanding of who you are, it is now easy to create a proper brand identity. This helps you stand out easier within your market and helps you connect to the customers.
The visual aspects of the band will make up your brand identity, including social media, your website, and your packaging. The basic elements will include the colors, logo, photography and fonts, and all of these work together to reflect your strategy and positioning in the market.
The logo is among the most important elements of your brand, because they serve as a representation of what your brand is about. They will not make your brand when used alone, but they can help you gain massive recognition by the audience when you use them well. Make sure when selecting them, they are easy to identify and they look attractive or pleasing.
When dealing with colors, there is something you need to note though – do not select colors based on your own preferences or trends you see – make sure they accurately reflect the personality you want to portray to the audience, as well as the cultural context you are trying to communicate.
The font you use is also important, even if it does not seem as significant as the other elements of branding. It will play a part in telling the story of your brand, although not as obviously as the other two. For instance, when you see a brand using classic serif, they may feel timeless in their approach, while a progressive or modern-minded band might use minimal san-serif.
Other aspects to look at when thinking about typography include the casing of letters, color of the font, sizing, kerning (the spacing between the letters) and pairing (the selection of a secondary font to complement the primary one).
Telling others about it
Marketing the brand itself to your colleagues, friends, acquaintances and other people is highly important, and social media remains an invaluable tool for this. However, it is important to remember that the brand will lead your marketing strategy, then the marketing tells others about your brand.
One method of doing this is through giving your customers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what you do, which generates plenty of interest from the customers.
In addition, remember to be active in responding to engagements from your customers or you can use apps like autolikesig to set on auto with monthly instagram likes.
Stand the time test
Because trends are temporary, you cannot rely on them to establish your brand identity – you need something deeper than that. The value of patience cannot be overstated here; it takes time to build a trustworthy connection with your audience, and if you have designs that are executed poorly, they will drive potential people away.
A manifestation of your brand that is consistent in application throughout your social media platforms ultimately proves more attractive than a trendy looking page. It will ultimately influence how people judge your brand at every step, as well as the things that happen after they buy a product or service from you.
Final thoughts
Instead of designing your brand primarily for Instagram, consider bringing your brand on the social media platform after you have figured out the best approach to use in marketing.
Some great information here for branding.