How to Create a Brand

How to Create a Brand

1. Determine your target audience.
2. Establish your mission statement.
3. Define your values, features, and benefits.
4. Create your visual assets.
5. Find your brand voice.
6. Market your brand.

Here’s how you can create a brand — or begin the process of rebranding your business.

There’s a lot that goes into a brand, and there’s a lot to consider when building a strong one. So, grab a notebook and jot down ideas as you move through this section. Recognize that branding is an iterative process. This means you might be repeating some of these steps as you brainstorm and build your brand.

Want to build an effective, measurable brand? Download our free guide on how to build a brand.

Define your brand’s purpose.

Before diving into the specifics, take a step back and define the overall purpose of your brand. What impact do you want to have on your customers and the world?

This purpose should guide all of your branding decisions.

1. Understand your brand’s origin story.

Every brand has an origin story — the reason the founders started the company and the problems they set out to solve. Building a brand that feels authentic and resonates with customers means understanding and communicating this story.

Real-Life Brand Example: Airbnb

Airbnb‘s origin story is that the founders couldn’t afford to pay rent, so they rented out air mattresses in their apartment to make extra money.

This experience made them realize there was an opportunity to create a marketplace for unique accommodations and experiences. Embracing this origin story has shaped Airbnb’s mission-driven, community-focused brand.

Testing It Out

Let’s put this into action by creating a brand for a social media marketing platform.

I created a simple origin story for a social media marketing platform: “As a small business owner herself, our founder was frustrated by how time-consuming and challenging social media marketing could be.

She set out to build a platform that would simplify the process and enable authentic connection, to help small businesses like hers grow.” Distilling this story will help humanize the brand.

2. Determine your target audience.

Branding leads to awareness, recognition, trust, and revenue. We’ve talked about that. But let’s take a step back and understand where those stem from: consumers. And not just any consumers — your target audience and customers. 70% of consumers say that they want a personalized experience. But how can you offer that experience if you don’t have a clear idea of who they are?

If your brand doesn’t resonate with your audience, it won’t lead to that awareness, recognition, trust, and revenue. That’s where target market research comes in. Before pressing pen to paper (or cursor to digital document), you must understand to whom your branding will be speaking.

Who does your product serve? Who is your ideal customer? Why did you create your business in the first place?

What you learn about your target market and buyer personas will influence your branding decisions down the line, so make this step your first priority.

Testing It Out

3. Establish your mission statement.

Let’s return to a question I asked in the last step: Why did you create your business? Answering this will help you build your mission statement. This statement defines your purpose and passion as an organization.

Before you can craft a brand that your audience recognizes, values, and trusts, you must be able to show what your business has to give. Then, every part of your brand (logo, tagline, imagery, voice, and personality) can reflect that mission and vision.

Your mission statement is a building block of your brand manifesto. It encompasses why your organization exists and why people should care about your brand.

Real-Life Brand Example: Patagonia

Clothing brand Patagonia’s brand purpose is to “Save our home planet.” This clear and impactful purpose guides everything they do, from their product design to their environmental activism.

Customers love it and consider it the most reputable brand in the United States.

Testing It Out

I wrote the following mission statement for the mock social media marketing platform: “To empower small businesses to authentically connect with their customers and grow their brand through innovative and accessible social media marketing tools and resources.”

This mission statement reflects the brand’s purpose and the value it aims to provide.

4. Define your unique values, qualities, and benefits.

There are probably lots of businesses in your industry and niche. It’s easy to focus on your competition (and there’s a time and place for competitive analysis), but, for now, let’s focus on you.

What’s one thing that your business has that no one else can mimic (er, legally)? Your brand.

Because of that, you must make sure that your brand is made from and inspired by elements that are solely yours: the values, benefits, and qualities that make your company unique.

Take a moment to jot down a list of what sets your business apart from others. I’m not talking about product features (like appearance, components, or capabilities). I’m referring to how your products or services improve lives and contribute to success.

Real-Life Brand Example: Tower 28 Beauty

You may have heard of Tower 28; they’re a beauty company that went viral on TikTok in 2021. I order their skincare products for two reasons:

• They steer clear of harmful ingredients, and
• I trust and respect the brand (and it’s gorgeous.)

On their website, they’ve clearly and simply outlined their unique values and benefits as part of their overall brand. This makes it easy for customers like me to trust their products and choose them over competitors.

Testing It Out

Some unique values and benefits I defined for the social media marketing platform:

• Affordable and accessible for small businesses on a budget.
• Enables authentic connection and engagement with customers.
• Simplifies social media marketing to save small business owners time.
• Empowers small businesses to grow through social media.

5. Create your visual assets.

At this point, you should understand your target audience, your mission statement, and the unique qualities that make up your business.

Can you say with confidence that you’ve finished these steps? If your answer is yes, it’s time to move on to one of the more exciting parts of branding — the visual design. We’re talking about your logo, color palette, typography (fonts), iconography, and other visual components.

As you create these elements, build a set of brand guidelines (or a brand style guide) to govern the composition and use of your visual assets.

This will ensure that whoever uses your new branding does so accurately and consistently. Check out these examples of brand style guides for some inspiration.

Note: Design can be just as intimidating as it is exciting. Consider hiring a professional with logo and identity design experience or starting with a few helpful design templates.

Testing It Out

For the social media marketing platform, I selected:

• Logo. A chat bubble icon incorporating an upward trending arrow to symbolize growth through conversation
• Colors. A vibrant, friendly teal as the primary color. Gray and white as secondary colors.
• Fonts. A rounded, approachable sans-serif font for headings. A clean, easy-to-read sans-serif for body copy.
• Imagery. Photos featuring small business owners connecting with customers and growing their business. Minimalist illustrations. These visual elements create a cohesive brand feel that’s modern, approachable, and conveys growth.

6. Find your brand voice.

Next, consider the voice of your brand. What would your brand sound like if you had a conversation with it, or if it texted you?

How you communicate with your target market is also considered part of your branding. You want to define a brand voice that connects and resonates with your audience — otherwise, they probably won’t pay attention. Because of that, don’t hesitate to return to step one to get familiar with to whom you’re speaking.

From your advertising campaigns and Instagram captions to your blog posts and brand story, your tone must be consistent.

So, give your audience a chance to get familiar with your brand and learn to recognize the sound of your voice. Better yet, create a fun, entertaining voice, and your customers will look forward to your social media and email updates.

Real-Life Brand Example: MailChimp

MailChimp is a great example of a brand that speaks with a clear, consistent tone. When I used their free plan for my small business, I always chuckled when receiving their emails and scanning their Instagram feed.

From its web copy to its social media posts, MailChimp has a clear brand voice that’s personable, fun, and accessible. It can be hard to explain the technical parts of a software product (like A/B testing), but MailChimp has finessed that, too.

Testing It Out

I defined key traits of the social media marketing platform’s brand voice:

• Friendly and approachable.
• Informative but not overly technical.
• Empowering and encouraging.
• Occasional use of humor.

7. Put your branding to work.

Your brand only works if you do. Once you finish designing and creating your new brand (or rebrand) integrate it throughout every inch of your business.

Pay extra attention to make sure that it’s displayed anywhere your business touches customers. Here are a handful of tips for applying your brand across your organization. Want to build an effective, measurable brand? Download our free guide on how to build a brand.

Testing It Out

To implement the new branding for the social media marketing platform, I’d take the following steps:

• Apply visual branding elements to the platform interface, website, social media profiles, and any marketing materials.
• Refine messaging on the website and in marketing copy to align with brand voice
• Train team members on the new brand guidelines.
• Develop branded content like blog posts, social media posts, and email newsletters.
• Ensure branded visuals and voice are used consistently in all future designs, product updates, and customer interactions.