The importance of building a business brand can not be overemphasized, it really can be considered just as important as setting up the business itself. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 4 tips to help effectively build a business brand.

Define Your Brand

To build a great brand, you need to first define that brand, know what it means, what it stands for and what concept or idea you want to equate it with. To define your brand, you can start by writing down all characteristics that describe what you want the brand to be or represent, and the exact way you would like the brand to be perceived. Once you have the list, you can progressively fine-tune it to enhance your brand and make it stand out from competitors. In the end, the list should give a clear understanding of what your business is capable of doing, what it should be known for and how it should sell products and/or services without compromising its values.



Encourage Your Employees To Be Brand Ambassadors

There is no better way to build a brand than to have your employees as brand ambassadors. It is important for your employees to understand the business brand, know what it stands for and embody what the brand stands for. This is because your employees are likely going to be the ones having direct interactions with the customers or clients, and if these employees don’t fully grasp what your business brand is about or what it represents, the customers or clients are unlikely to do so as well. As a business, be sure to keep your employees ‘engaged and informed’ about your business brand, train them to understand the business brand and encourage them to support the brand message in their interactions with customers or clients, and even in their interactions with each other. You can them reward them for acting in the brand’s best interests by way of incentives.



Think of Your Brand as a Person

This will help significantly in brand communications and positioning. Thinking of your brand as a person will help to guide the methods and manner you communicate your brand to the general public, especially target customers. This is because seeing your brand as a person helps to give it a personality, and this personality will determine how your brand will behave in different situations. It also determines, based on that personality, how best to communicate with the general public, and helps develop beliefs, values and purposes that further define that brand and how it relates with the public and target customers.



Be Consistent

Consistency helps to reinforce the character of your brand. It makes your brand seem focused and less clumsy to the public, and further helps to clarify your offerings so customers know or have an idea of what exactly to expect from your business. Additionally, it helps to establish the authenticity of your brand and build trust in your brand. Creating a brand guide can help with brand consistency. A brand guide will help to establish guidelines for your brand and ultimately keep your entire business on the same page.

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Care to know the brand I'm talking about.
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