I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” Well, I’d like to propose a new one: “You are what you brand.” Your brand is how other people perceive your company and your role in it. It’s also how they judge whether or not they want to engage with your business. If your brand isn’t strong enough, customers won’t remember who you are or how great your product is when push comes to shove.

So how do you build a strong brand? Here are some strategies that have worked well for me:

Know your why

To build your brand, you must first know your “why”. Why do you do what you do? Why is your service or product important to people? Why is it different from other similar services or products? And finally, why should anyone spend money on it when they could get the same thing cheaper elsewhere.

For example: if you’re in the business of selling coffee, then why did you start a coffee shop instead of just working in another coffee shop like everyone else does? Maybe because no one else was doing it right enough for your taste. Or maybe because there’s something about making people happy with a good cup of joe that has always appealed to your sense of service and generosity toward others—in which case “being nice” might be part of the answer.

Forbes has a few questions to help you figure out your why. Check them out here.

Stand for something

• Be clear on what you stand for.
• Make sure that your message is authentic and consistent.
• Your brand should always be a part of your marketing strategies, no matter if it’s a logo or an Instagram post.

Be true to who you are

When you build your brand, it’s important to know who you are and what you stand for. Then, you can consistently represent that brand.

• Know your audience. Identify the people you want to attract, be very clear on who they are and why they would choose to work with you over someone else. What are their needs? Do they trust you? Why should they trust you?
• Be authentic. Don’t try to be something that is not real or genuine about yourself, it won’t resonate with your audience if it comes across as fake or inauthentic (think about how much people love to hate celebrities for this reason). If a person feels like what they see from an influencer is just a front for an image or a facade, then there is no connection between the two—and no trust gained by either party involved.*

Be very clear on who you serve and why

It’s important to know who your audience is and why they need the service that you provide. When you build your brand, make sure you can answer these questions about your audience: Who are they? What do they want? Why do they want it? What do they like, dislike, or consider important? If you can’t answer those questions, how can you possibly expect to serve them well?

For example: If a client comes to me wanting help with their website and tells me that their target market is high schoolers and college students in their area who need custom t-shirts for their school’s sports teams, then we could probably dive right into brainstorming ideas for a logo design. But if the client comes to me with an idea for a business selling customized jewelry for dogs (because apparently there’s some kind of crazy trend going on), then I’d have no way of knowing whether or not my designs would even appeal to that particular audience—and so we may have wasted some time on this project if it turns out that these dog owners don’t see any value in what I’m offering them.

Consider what makes your service or product different from others and use that to become the go-to in your industry.

You can’t be everything to everyone, but you should make sure your brand stands out from the crowd. Ask yourself: what makes your service or product different from others in your industry? What can you do better than anyone else? Why would someone choose you over a competitor?

To answer these questions, consider what makes your service or product different from others and use that as a way to become the go-to in your industry.

Curate your message

This is the most important part of building your brand: curating your message. As a brand-builder, you need to be consistent and authentic, while simultaneously being flexible enough to adapt to different platforms and audiences.

To achieve this, you must curate your message in such a way that it’s both unique and recognizable—and always communicates the same thing: who you are, what makes you special, why people should care about what you have to offer.

Conclusion

It’s important to have a clear understanding of what your brand stands for. This will be the foundation on which everything else is built. Once you know why you do what you do, all other decisions become easier—and with that clarity in place, creating a brand that resonates with customers is much easier than ever before! If you want our help with developing your brand, join our next Blueprint Intensive.

Social media is a big deal. We’re all on it, we’ve grown up with it, and it’s changed the way we interact with each other — and ourselves. If you think social media has been a boon for narcissists, wait until everyone has an avatar that looks like them and speaks on their behalf. And if you thought TikTok was just another fad, wait until you see what happens when AI can mimic someone’s voice so accurately that even their friends don’t know! I’m sure there will be plenty more changes in 2023 (including some unexpected ones), but here are my predictions for how this all will play out over the next five years:

If you think social media has been a boon for narcissists, wait until everyone has an avatar that looks like them and speaks on their behalf.

If you think social media has been a boon for narcissists, wait until everyone has an avatar that looks like them and speaks on their behalf.

I’ve been working on this for years. You can already see the early stages of it with sites like Instagram and Snapchat—you can create your own avatar and interact with people online through it. A lot of people still use their real names on these sites, but there are enough fake profiles that anyone who knows how will be able to find an account using someone else’s name (or even just one letter off). I’m sure by 2023 there will be more sophisticated avatars available as well as more advanced AI software than what we have now, allowing anyone with an internet connection to have some kind of digital presence in cyberspace.

Facebook will be irrelevant by 2023 — except to the elderly.

Yes, you read that right: Facebook is going to be irrelevant by 2023. In fact, it’s already over for the social media platform. It’s losing users by the millions and that trend will only pick up speed as time goes on. People are tired of dealing with its privacy breaches and data mining, but they’re also abandoning the platform because there are all these new apps out there with better features and more fun content like TikTok or Instagram. Even older people who might still be loyal to their old friend Facebook have tried them out and don’t want to go back; once you’ve had a taste of something new and exciting, it’s hard to settle for second best!

In short: if your business relies on Facebook as a marketing tool then get ready for a rude awakening when you realize none of your customers care about seeing your posts anymore (if they ever did).

TikTok will be around longer than you think

You may have heard that TikTok is going to disappear and be replaced by a new name, but don’t worry—that’s not happening any time soon. The app is still growing and has become popular with all kinds of users.

It’s especially popular with younger users, who use it more frequently than older demographics. It’s also used heavily in China (where it originated), where 73% of internet users are active on the platform. And you can find TikTok everywhere—the most popular country outside of China is India, which has an average user base age of 29 years old.

Social media is here to stay but it may look quite a bit different by 2023

Social media is here to stay and will most likely look quite a bit different in 2023. It may become more personal, content-focused, and less about followers.

• Social media will be used for different things.
• Social media will be more about the user than it has been previously.

Conclusion

The social media landscape is constantly changing, and it will continue to do so in the future. As we’ve seen through this article, Facebook has lost its dominance as other platforms offer new features and experiences and more people move away from traditional forms of communication like email or phone calls. It’s important not to get too caught up in these trends because no one knows what tomorrow holds!