6: Apply Your Branding

Applying your branding across your business gives it a cohesive brand story. 

A brand story represents who your business is and what it stands for. It sets the stage for every interaction customers have with your brand, in-store and online.

If your business has a brand story, share it, because it can help the shopper feel reassured yours is a legitimate business. 

Your positioning statement can get you started, but to craft, a brand story asks yourself a few questions:

  1. What motivated me to start my business? 
  2. Why does the company exist? 
  3. How do we contribute to the world?
  4. What is the story behind my business the customer should know?

Not every business is mission-driven, but if yours has a mission or values, share your brand story and tell customers why the business was started. Look at the businesses TOMS and Coca-Cola, the first a mission-driven brand, the second not so much.

TOMS, footwear, and accessories company is “in business to improve lives.” TOMS' first charitable program, One for One, where it donates shoes to children in need, and more recently is making donations to the COVID-19 Global Giving Fund, among other charitable initiatives. When a shopper purchases a product from TOMS, they can come away feeling good because they believe in the cause their purchase is contributing toward. 

Coca-Cola, a globally recognized soft drink business, isn’t grounded in a strong social good or environmental mission, but it appeals to its target market through branding that focuses on bringing together friends to experience fun, happiness, and connection. A customer of a Coca-Cola product can walk away feeling as if they are more socially connected with friends or loved ones if they enjoy the product with those friends.

For new business owners, there’s a lot to learn from Coca-Cola. It offers up excellent examples of brand marketing through timeless designs, fonts, images, and colors that are instantly recognizable.

Whether you choose to build a brand story around a mission or not, the important thing is to give the customer a story that they tell themselves about your brand.