Araba Sey highlights the need for Branding in Career/Business Development

Branding is more than just the name or logo of your business. Besides that, good branding could as well all start from the name you give to your brand. The name you choose for your brand can help in inveigling people to your business.

Branding helps you to distinct yourself from your competitors. It makes you stand out and makes you unique. Good branding can be fully achieved when you are well enlightened about your brand or business even before you start; knowing the value your brand is going to provide and the reason or purpose for creating that brand.It helps you to be able to position your brand well to the public knowing the nature or structure of the brand or business you are venturing into.

In branding oneself you need to identify or determine your target market. You need to ensure your brand stands out and that your target market recognizes it and is aware of it. Your brand identity means revealing exactly or in detail what you do concerning your job and making your target market or public understand your brand.

It’s not just about creating a brand identity and awareness but trying to ensure that your brand perceptions are positive and correct. You need to make known the core qualities and benefits of your brand to your target market. What sets you apart from other brands.

Another salient factor worth mentioning is giving your clients or target market an exceeding expectation to build loyalty and even recommend your brand or business to other people to work with.This is where you create your “Brand Personality”.

Always consider the judgements or responses of the public or your target market in terms of credibility, quality, consideration and how superior your brand is as compared to other competing brands and assess these judgements and work on how to maintain or improve on the perceived credibility, quality and superiority of your brand.

Brand reviews from the public or your target market is very significant (the negativities and positivities).Publicize the encouraging reviews from customers or clients. Work on the flaws that are pointed out to you or made mention by your customers. Your brand is defined by customers’ overall perception of your business.

Always be consistent with your brand or in what you do. Consistency portrays positivity and makes your target market confident in your brand. It attracts recommendations from satisfied clients to other people. Consistency would also avoid customers or your target market having to look elsewhere when there is a break in business.

Engage brand influencers or people who are admired in society to endorse your brand or business. It adds value to your brand and pulls or attracts more customers or clients. It convinces people that your business, products or services are genuine. People are more convinced or confident in patronizing or buying from brands familiar to them.

Prioritize or make sure not to lose relationship with clients who are consistent in patronizing or purchasing your products. Establish good customer relations with them as well or whoever purchases your products for the first time. It speaks well of your brand. Customer relations could either drive people away or attract people to your brand.

Be innovative and creative. You can take an anonymous survey on competing brands. Try and identify their strengths and weakness and see how best you could use that to your advantage. The survey would help you strategize on how you could beat other competing brands to pull customers to your side.

Network with people wherever you find yourself . It’s a smart way of having the opportunity to make known or talk about your brand to them. The higher the promotion of your brand the higher the visibility of your brand. Visibility attracts customers within a short time.