How can branding generate organic growth for your business?

First and foremost, what is a brand?

First of all, we need to understand what a brand is and what it is not. So let's take the elephant out of the room. A brand is not a logo or a company's visual identity; it's not a story or a tagline, and it's not a product or what you see.

So what is a brand then? A Brand is a promise of a relationship. It's how people perceive a business and its offer. You can't tell people how to do it, yet you can sure influence them.

Creating a solid relationship with the brand's audience will naturally generate organic growth for the business. So let's find out how to do it in five steps.

1 - Know your purpose

What makes you jump out of bed every morning? Why does your business exist besides money? Knowing your purpose is a primary takeout to build a strong relationship with your customers. If you don't have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, you won't know whom you need to talk to, which can be misleading and threatening to your company's future. So that's why defining your purpose is the first step toward a successful journey.

2 - Find your audience

Understanding and having a clear picture with whom you are talking will give you answers about their pains and needs, therefore helping you create solutions to their problems. Knowing the brand's audience and listening to them is a quintessential step to building a good relationship.

3 - Stand for your beliefs

Now that you have figured out the purpose and the audience, you show who the brand is by positioning it. By communicating beliefs and principles, the brand can be seen not only as a business but as a concept, a way of life, a sign of status or a philosophy, which will undeniably end up connecting the brand and its people.

4 - Speak their language

Positioning isn't enough if you don't know how to correctly express the brand's message. To learn the brand's voice is to give it personality and the opportunity to tell stories and be heard. So, when the message carries the same language as the audience, it creates empathy and empowers relationships.

5 - Dress accordingly

When you have a solid foundation and know your brand, goals, audience, and message, it's time to dress up and go to the party. Creating a visual identity that communicates personality and evokes feelings is the last bit to close the gap and connect the brand and its audience.

These are only five steps that I consider essential for a successful brand development. But, of course, it is just a scratch on the surface of a much deeper process. During the development of a brand, you should be able to make future-oriented decisions and create a roadmap. A plan that will guide actions to take your brand from where it is now to where it aims to be. Creating experiences, telling stories and forming relationships are a few examples of actions that will help to create a patrimony that will make your brand the most valuable asset of your business.