There’s a lot of competition out there — for everyone, in every industry. Unless your company is fortunate enough to create its own industry, or to become so ubiquitous that its name becomes a verb (i.e. “google it”), you’re going to encounter some stiff resistance from other companies that do similar things to you. So how do you stand out and ensure that your brand is top of mind, all the time?
Every business faces this very daunting prospect when starting up. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and many times, the most successful entrepreneurs are merely judged on how much meaning they can give to a brand that does not even exist yet. Put differently, creating a startup brand is necessarily an exercise in building from the ground up.
There are, however, advantages to this starting-from-scratch perspective, too. The need to innovate can play well into your company’s strengths. It can make you hungrier and more driven than your competitors. Hopefully, it also means that you start looking at other industries outside of your own to give meaning to your brand and to redefine how the game can be played.
With creative and aggressive marketing, industries have been shaped and reshaped, time and time again. Here are five ways to take your business from the square one to the top of mind!
1. Know all of your potential audiences.
When defining your brand, make sure you choose both your brand name and potential slogans very carefully. Does your brand translate? Does it work in other markets? Is it specific to a single audience only, or do you have truly global reach?
If you build your brand from scratch, first find your target audience and keep addressing them and them only. Again, and again, and again!
2. Don’t limit yourself to just one region.
English as a language and the Roman alphabet are among of the most common forms of communication in the world. But there…
