Are You Starting with a Brand or Just Building a Business?

Let’s play a game!

Close your eyes and think of chai. Did a steaming hot cup of brew come to your mind? Or did you think of Chaayos?

That is the difference between starting a business and building a brand that people connect with.

In today’s startup culture, launching a business is fairly easy. You might even get funding before you get your first customer, but if you're not thinking beyond sales and spreadsheets, your business could be short-lived. 

A business sells things, but a brand sells emotions. And emotions are the basis of most of the purchases. 

What Is The Meaning Of Brand?

A brand is not just a logo, fancy font, or tagline that sticks. It's the feeling that people get when they think about your brand or interact with it. Building a brand is all about showing up consistently, building trust with your customers, and evoking powerful emotions in people. 

Your Brand Identity is what sets you apart and gives you an edge over your competition.  In simpler terms, if your business was a person, brand identity is its personality, and it could be anything you want it to be. It could be fun, witty, quirky, confident, minimalist, or downright chaotic. 
 

Digital Marketing Without Brand Identity is Like Dating Without Personality

You can spend big bucks on paid ad campaigns, flood social media with relevant content, and still get crickets. Why? Because your digital marketing is nothing without a brand identity.

Now, imagine running an ad campaign that’s beautifully designed with all the right words, but the tone keeps changing. You might get impressions, maybe even clicks, but no loyalty.

Also Read: What Is Social Media Influencer Marketing?

Digital marketing thrives on strong and consistent storytelling, given that the hero remains the same and the plot has a flow to it. This is exactly what building a brand means.
 

Think About Launching A Brand Even Before Launching A Business

Before you start working towards building a strong brand identity for your business, you can ask yourself these 5 questions:

Who are you as a business?
Define your core values and try to find your voice. Is it funny, witty, confident, or polite? Once you know the mode of communication you want to use with your audience, the content ideas and messaging will get a bit easier to figure out. 
 

What problem is your business solving?
What are you on a mission to solve? Because that becomes the core of your brand. 

Who are you talking to?
Who are you trying to connect with? Is it a mother trying to reduce the painting mess in her life or a father looking to buy the coolest toy for his kiddo? Once you know your audience, it will be easy for you to figure out a way to speak their language and connect with them at a personal level. 

What’s your visual identity?
Coming to the most crucial, you must have heard in your digital marketing career - Brand guidelines. These are not just fonts, colors, or imagery. It is the identity of your business. It’s the way people think of you when they think of your brand, for example, red (Zomato) comes to mind when you think of food or yellow (Swiggy) when you need to order groceries.

Are you consistent with your messaging?
Your brand identity thrives on consistency in messaging, color, fonts, and even imagery. Even while following something trending on social media, you need to ask yourself, “Will this make sense for my brand identity?” 
 

Business Create Products, But Brands Lead Movements

Remember, Surf Excel’s “Daag Ache Hain” or Aerial’s “Share The Load” campaign? Nothing fancy. Just a simple message that hit home with so many families. 

Also Read: Google E-E-A-T: A Definitive Guide to Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness

Those campaigns were not about the products but about creating a place in their customers’ hearts. It was about loyalty and showing that you care about what is going on in your customers’ minds. 

It was a simple “I hear you” movement that hit home with so many users. That’s what a brand does. They don’t build customers. They make long-time friends who are not going to leave them anytime soon.

Brand or Business? Are you Still Confused?

Here is a final pearl of wisdom for you - “If you are easily replaceable by some upcoming new business in the market, then you have been building a business. But if people asked about you when you disappeared, you have a brand.”

So, before you start your digital marketing, just give yourself a moment and go back to the drawing board. Ask yourself the right questions and then build from there. 

Remember, brands are not built in a day. It is a slow, painful effort, but once it’s done, the rest will start to figure itself out.