what's up brand builders Stephen Houraghan here at BrandMasterAcademy.com and in this video you're going to learn an in-depth highly valuable 21-step brand building process so you can stop fumbling around in the dark with tactics and use this proven step-by-step method to build a strategic brand now if you're new to the channel and you want to build brands that go beyond the visuals using strategy psychology and creative thinking then you're in the right place hit that subscribe button and the notification bell if you want to fast track your results make sure you grab the pro brand strategy blueprint it's a free download and the link is in the description now look there's no question that the brand building process has most definitely evolved building a brand in the 2020s is no longer the same as it once was unfortunately for most businesses consumers aren't mindless moths with shiny object syndrome no they're smarter than that and they're getting smarter as well they have real challenges standing in the way of real goals and a good looking logo simply isn't enough to get them over the line to really influence them into that buying decision so you need to first understand them and then build a brand around them if you want to have any chance of influencing them so in this video i want to give you a highly detailed 21-step brand building process that you can follow step by step to build a successful brand now look chances are this isn't your first rodeo and you've got a solid idea of what a brand is but the meaning of a brand can be different from one person to the next so let's start with a simple definition a brand is the entity developed by a business to shape the perception and build a reputation of the business in the market so now that we have that simple definition in place what is brand building well building a brand or brand building are the activities undertaken by the business to actively shape that perception and to build that reputation and they do this by creating strategic communication and experiences across all touch points building a brand doesn't happen overnight it happens over time by communicating a consistent message and then consistently delivering on the promise that that message conveys time and again and this is how reputations are developed and this is how brands are built now when it comes to forging an effective brand there are three core pillars that the brand is built upon and if you overlook or under develop any one of these three pillars then the chances of success for your brand are significantly reduced so let's have a look at these three pillars now the first pillar is brand strategy now the strategy phase is all about clarity specifically it's about defining who we are who we're for why they should care and how we'll show them now most businesses they simply skip this step and so their identity and their marketing lacks the clarity needed to really influence once you're clear on these key questions the brand billing process becomes so much easier the next pillar is the brand identity now the brand identity is probably the most well represented branding pillar across all businesses because quite simply very few businesses in the world don't have a logo of some kind but the brand identity system itself is more than just a logo the term system refers to the individual visual elements of the brand all working together in cohesion the visual branding elements are designed to communicate the attributes of the brand visually and then we have brand marketing now branding without marketing is like an engine without fuel you can have the best product or service in the world an enticing position a compelling message and an engaging identity but unless you have the means to get your brand in front of your audience it doesn't matter marketing is where the rubber meets the road and the message of the brand is delivered across a variety of touch points which can include social media profiles websites environmental point of sale advertising content marketing videos email marketing seminars industry events and printed material to name a few now the importance of brand building is regularly overlooked i've heard overly optimistic entrepreneurs stating that their idea was so good that they simply needed to turn on the marketing for guaranteed success now needless to say i've never come across a business that found branding success simply by turning on the marketing for any marketing tactic let alone strategy to have any kind of success it must be finely tuned to the brand it represents the more accurately tuned marketing and branding are the more likely the right message will be delivered to the right audience with the right method and only when a business can achieve these things can they build an actual brand that will grow over time now if you're building a brand for yourself or you're a professional brand builder building brands for clients having a solid brand building process in place is absolutely critical the following process is used by some of the biggest and most successful brands in the world and if you follow this process step by step and adopt it into your own business or your own agency to build brands that connect with your audience you'll have a much better chance at success step number one the human brand build an entity to connect now the first step to this process is a really important one because it's about shifting the mindset to what you're actually building here most people think of building a brand as a visually appealing representation of their business though we connect with brands in the same way that we connect with people as people we connect with others through the signals they send including their looks their style their traits their behavior their personality and their communication to name a few so don't think of building your brand as building a corporate entity think of it as building a human entity designed to connect with other humans step number two brand purpose start with why now as people were all very different but one of the traits that make us similar is our need to feel like we're here for a reason and that we serve some kind of purpose now if you know what your purpose is and you spend your days living that purpose the work you do doesn't really feel like work at all because you're living your purpose purpose-driven brands really do attract personnel and customers who believe what the brand believes now simon sinek's ted talk start with why which is an overview of his book outlines how brands that know their why are much better positioned to serve their audience to find your brand's purpose identify why the brand exists beyond money step number three brand vision define the future brand now no one attempts to build a brand to fail every brand is built with aspirations of success but most brand leaders never really take the time to think about what success looks like now as stephen covey once famously said in his best-selling book seven habits of highly effective people to begin with the end of mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination so the steps that you take are always in the right direction brands and brand leaders who understand exactly where they want to go can make better decisions to get the brand to its destination for your brand to stand any chance of success first get clear on what success looks like and document it in your vision statement step number four brand mission outline the brand's commitments now a brand's mission represents the commitments the bran will undertake to achieve its aspirational vision for that future now when i say commitments we're not talking here about a to-do list of tasks that the leadership has to take off on a week by week or a month by month basis instead the mission of the brand is a commitment to deliver a specific something in a specific way that distills the brand philosophy as in this is the way we do things around here and this is what we're committed to doing now the brands that are driven by passionate leaders who really are committed to a mission that they outline they develop a reputation for that philosophy so get clear on what your brand's philosophy is and how you want to specify your commitments as a brand step number five brand values define how you'll show up now as people we tend to gravitate towards other people who share the same values that we have the more aligned we are to others in our values the more likely we are to have grounds for a strong connection brands that display values which are aligned with their audience they create a solid foundation for customer relationships now look the whole reality is brand values have been misused by businesses and aspiring brands for years as a piece of marketing but values are not displayed in our words they're displayed in our behaviors so in order for brand values to be in any way effective they must first be actionable and then they must be acted upon brand values are not a marketing tool they define what the business holds dear how they'll show up to the market and they should influence business decisions so get clear on what's important to you in the way you do business then create concise and actionable statements as a guide for decisions step number six segment your market identify the market consumers now markets are simply groups of people who want or need what the business is offering now when we refer to the technology market for example we're referring to the groups of people in the market for technological goods or services when it comes to strategically defining the brand's plan the first protocol is to identify the market and the segments within that market a physiotherapist as an example needs to understand the segments that make up the market of people who are looking for their services so when we think about physiotherapists there are different groups of people in the market for that kind of service and these groups can include people recovering from an injury people who play sports people with back and neck problems pregnant women who need relief and children with developmental challenges to name a few now each one of these groups is a segment in the market which the physiotherapist needs to understand before defining who they actually want to help and the same is true for any other business in any other market one of the most important steps in the brand building process is determining the existing market segments understand the different groups of people in your market and what makes the people in that group similar to each other step number seven target your market identify your ideal customers now the next strategic brand building step to get clear on is who your target market is the people that you want to target and these are the groups or the segments of the market that your brand wants to go after so using our physiotherapist again as an example although she could probably help everybody in the market for a physiotherapist and those services targeting everybody is often a per strategy getting crystal clear on the exact segments she's better placed to target will likely achieve much better traction and much better results so for example if the therapist is a mother and she has specialist training in women's health physiotherapy chances are she'll be better able to resonate with that market segment than the other segments so once you've identified the segments that make up your market define which group of people you want to target and how or why you may be better placed to resonate with them step number eight competitor research analyze the competition now with a clear picture on the segments that make up your market and how you'll target those segments the next brand building process step is to understand the brands already serving your target audience so competitor research allows you to analyze the competition to uncover what your competition is doing well but most importantly where they're leaving gaps now the reality is many business owners look to their competition as a roadmap for success but replication is not the end goal of competitive analysis this step in the brand billing process is about uncovering opportunities to be different or more relevant to your target market than those competitors so effective competitive analysis is about uncovering those unique opportunities to give your audience an alternative option to the ones that they already have so take the time to analyze your competitors and uncover unique ways that you can give your target audience something a little bit different step number nine position your brand define how you're different now brand positioning is where the rubber meets the road in the strategic brand building process now at this point you'll have done some heavy lifting in the research and analysis of your market the segments that you want to target and the competitors already serving those segments now it's time to define the reason that you'll provide your audience to choose your brand over that competition now your differentiation strategy as in how you're different from your competitors outlines the unique point of difference your brand offers the market now as a rule of thumb the more your audience values this difference the more likely they are to choose your brand over those competitors or to even pay a premium for what you offer now not every brand or every strategy can achieve that radical differentiation but the more unique your experience is the more chance it has of gaining traction so when defining your position don't play it safe go all out be bold and don't be afraid to ruffle the feathers of your competitors step number 10 brand archetypes uncover your brand's personality type now archetypes are a scientific framework of personality types developed by psychiatrist carl jung in the early 20th century now the framework provides a foundation of all personality types which brand strategists and leaders can use to develop the personality for their brand now to use this framework effectively you must first identify the personality of your audience and second align it to the personality most likely to attract that audience now look brand archetypes are not to be used as a standalone technique when it comes to defining a brand's personality the framework is simply used as the foundation on which the personality is developed so take the time to first understand the 12 personality archetypes and understand where your audience fits and how your brand can align step number 11 brand personality create a tangible persona now the personality of the brand has become increasingly important in the last 10 years or so if you think back to the 90s very few brands had much of a personality and messaging across the board came across as really robotic and really corporate but today on the other hand more and more brands are letting their hair down and loading up their messaging with personality to endear themselves to their audience so if you want to see some of the most successful brands that use personality in their messaging then look no further than the likes of harley davidson red bull the dollar shave club old spice and diesel jeans to name a few now these are brands that understand their audience how they speak and the attributes that get them excited which just so happen to be the attributes that these brands are built on so when you're ready to bring your brand to life as a walking talking charming representation of your business identify the traits that get your audience in the mood and generously season your messaging with those traits step number 12 brand messaging craft a core message and framework now good looks noble values and charming personality aside when your brand gets its chance at the podium it'll better have something relevant and enticing to say and this is where most businesses and brands get it completely wrong they pour half their time effort and budget into making their brand look good and the other half of their budget to google or facebook for their chance on stage and when they finally get there they've got very little to say of any kind of influence but it's only when you really take the time to understand your audience how they're feeling and what they really desire can you craft messaging that really taps into the emotional brain and despite the countless articles around core message directing you to create some kind of body of text your core message are a collection of key messages that work together to shape the perception of your brand over multiple touch points so define the perception that you want to create in the market and craft a framework of messages that will work together to shape that perception step number 13 brand story define a storytelling framework now the human brain is wired for story and there are no shortage of research papers by neuroscientists highlighting how the brain responds to story versus factual information now our brains are wired for story because complex language the written word and manuscripts they're all relatively new in the grand scheme of things for millions of years stories were the only effective way that people could pass on knowledge and wisdom from one generation to the next so it's become part of our dna when we hear a story we're hardwired to find out the resolution so we can learn from the journey of the protagonist and brands are able to leverage this hardwiring by crafting stories about their audience the journey they're on the challenges they face and ultimately the outcomes they seek so step into the shoes of your audience bring the journey to life and craft a narrative of success that looks sounds and feels just like the audience it was written for step number 14 brand identity design a visual identity system now at this stage the whole a brand is not a logo headline has had its moment in the sun most business owners understand that they need a strategy behind the brand to have any kind of success but as much as we might speak about the importance of strategy it can be very easy then to overlook the importance of the visual brand there is no form of communication quite like visual communication visuals bypass the complex analytical part of the brain for processing in milliseconds by our primitive reptilian brain so the brand identity therefore provides the opportunity for the brand to get their foot in the door long enough to make a visual impression now there are many brand identity elements at play in a well-designed system including the logo typography color image style icons and motion graphics more strategic and cohesive these elements are the more impact they'll have on the brand experience so bring the strategy work to the table when designing your brand identity and lead with the traits that get your audience in the mood step number 15 brand presence create the brand's assets now once you have a well-designed brand born from strategy it's time to bring the brand to life in the digital and the physical world a brand is not a physical thing it lives in the mind as a perception though it needs a presence where your audience congregates to shape that perception today that perception can be created in the digital or the physical world and can include websites social media profiles blogs video platforms environmental designs point of sale brochures business cards vehicle wraps and many many more so define the environments where your brand will engage your audience and design the assets that can most effectively deliver your brand's message step number 16 brand offer create a compelling offer for your brand now the brand building process clearly defines who the brand is for why it's different and why the audience should care but once the groundwork has been laid by the brand's strategic messaging over multiple touch points the brand's offer plays an instrumental role in the buying decision how a brand's products or services are packaged up into a compelling offer is often the difference between a visitor converting or not more often than not the challenge your audience is trying to overcome is not an isolation and it's often coupled with other challenges the more relevant challenges addressed the more compelling the offer brands that are able to creatively package their products into an offer that helps the audience to overcome multiple challenges provides a convincing argument that all the obstacles on their path have been considered so think about what your audience is actually trying to achieve and what other challenges you can help them remove and increase the perceived value of your offer step number 17 the buyer's journey forge your funnel steps now the buyer's journey is different for every brand but every brand has a buyer's journey these are the steps your audience typically take on route to becoming a customer now as a rule of thumb the higher the price point of the product or service the longer the buyer's journey ultimately your brand needs to guide your audience from the cold outer periphery where they know little to nothing about the brand to the warm inner circle where they choose that brand over the competitive alternative to do this effectively you must understand the emotional state of the audience at each step the questions that they have and what they need to progress to the next step an effective sales funnel maps the buyer's journey and offers interesting or valuable breadcrumbs to entice the user to progress one step at a time so step into the shoes of your audience identify the questions they have and craft an engaging funnel to guide them through the buyer's journey from a cold lead to a hot new customer step number 18 marketing strategy create a plan for marketing execution now armed with a strategic message an engaging identity a compelling offer and an enticing funnel your brand is ready to be amplified to the world your marketing strategy is your brand's plan to identify where your audience congregates and how to place the right message in the right environment at the right time to influence perceptions and ultimately action now as we've already covered every market is different and where people go for their passion for their learning for their entertainment or for the curiosity varies drastically the platforms media and tools at a brand's disposal can include organic social media search engine marketing television digital display networks billboards paid social media print advertising radio blogs search engine optimization and events now while many of these platforms and tools are pay to play many are attainable with time and effort rather than dollars and budget now of course the paid platforms are more immediate and they guarantee eyes on your message while organic options take longer and there are definitely no guarantees there for example writing an article on your blog might only cost you the time it takes to write and post the article though that article might take much longer to attract searchers when compared to google ads which guarantees you those top spots creating your marketing strategy is about positioning budgets and congregations to find the right balance of engagement for your brand so identify where your audience is what they're looking for the type of media or message to engage and the resources at your disposal to define a marketing plan for your brand step number 19 brand awareness raise the awareness of your brand now once all of your ducks are in a row and your brand is launched it becomes a game of balance between consistency and optimization now the first goal is brand awareness when a brand is launched the market most likely doesn't even know it exists and raising brand awareness aims to change that now obviously the more people within your target market that are aware that your brand exists the more chance your brand will be remembered in that buying decision identifying the congregations of your audience is the key to making your brand awareness campaign as effective as possible it's not about spreading your message as far and wide as possible it's about really getting your message in front of as many of the most relevant people as possible so focus your brand awareness campaign channels and double down on your efforts to raise that awareness step number 20 brand adoption increase your conversion rates now once your brand starts to gain awareness the visitors will follow whether that's to your website or to your retail store making the most of those visitors is a game of conversion optimization now of course this is part of your ongoing funnel management but knowing where the holes are in your pipeline enhances the effectiveness of your buyer's journey now there are many ways that might improve your brand experience to enhance those conversion rates including ux design ui design shop layout cart experience headlines copywriting interior design calls to action sales support and email sequences so analyze your visitors and watch how they respond and optimize your experience to guide them more effectively to your inner circle and step number 21 brand advocacy turn happy clients into marketing machines now brand advocacy is one of the most effective and underutilized way of generating more customers for your brand happy customers who have been through your entire buyer's journey and come out the other side with the outcome that they had hoped for are pure gold these happy customers are all potential walking talking tweeting vlogging mini marketing machines ready and willing to sing your brand's praises now of course many businesses have these potent weapons at their disposal but they simply don't activate them with an effective advocacy program when your brand begins to generate these happy clients make sure you continue to nurture the relationship before engaging them to share their experience and a pro tip here create an incentive they'll value to sweeten the deal now look in this digital world of low attention and high competition it might be tempting for business owners to spend as little as possible to get themselves a logo throw up a landing page and drive some traffic to that landing page with some facebook ads but those that take shortcuts and tell themselves that they're building a brand are living in a world of fluffy rainbow unicorns the process of building a brand is not a short-term task that you can knock over in a few days it's a methodical process with critical steps that you simply can't overlook in truth it's a mountain of work with absolutely no guarantees but if you're prepared to take the long road do things in the right way and consider who you're serving and what they need at every step along the way you have every chance of building a successful brand now when you're ready to build your brand one of the best ways to learn and to find inspiration is by looking at the best the strategic elements they use and how they use them if you want to check out 10 brand strategy examples from some of the best brands in the world then this video will help you out until next time brand like a master and I'll see you in the next video you