How to Start a Brand and Grow It Online: Top Tips for Beginners

While companies like Pepsi can afford to spend millions on creating a new logo, startups like Twitter took a risk on a $5 logo. What’s most important when you start a brand is that you have buy-in from your staff and your customers.

Here are four tips for starting a brand and getting it to grow.

1. Write Your Story

Your brand should start with a story. It can be personal, sociopolitical, or global. All that matters is that you’re happy with and proud of the story.

You’ll be repeating this story to customers and clients, so make sure that it’s sincere. You should be able to talk about it from the heart. If it feels like you share this story with your staff and the people you work with, talk about it together.

The more people you can get to write your story with you, the more they’ll be invested and want to share that with others.

2. Create a Mood Board

A mood board might sound like something from an arts and crafts class but it’s actually a pretty powerful way to learn about yourself and your company. Whether you use Adobe Spark’s mood boards or your own tool, it’s a great way to figure out what your brand is about.

When you’re conceiving a new project, having images to point to can bring everyone’s ideas together. Rather than keeping things nebulous and theoretical, let phrases, colors, and pictures describe what you need.

You don’t need a lot of technical know-how to create one, so it’s worth trying.

3. Get Feedback From Colleagues

Before you make any final decisions, talk to your colleagues and friends in the industry. They’ll help you shape your design and your ideas to ensure that people understand who you are and what you’re about.

You might not want to hear the criticism of your harshest colleagues but those who have been in the industry for a while have the insight to offer. Listen carefully and take them seriously.

Their advice can help you to skip a few steps on your climb to success.

4. Get On Every Channel

If you want to succeed online, you need to make sure that you’re everywhere that your customers are. Your customers and clients need to be able to find you and learn about your business on the channels that they use the most.

Create social media profiles that include photos, video, and other media. Don’t be shy about sharing your story, the stories of your staff, and information about your products and services.

Have your staff create individual professional profiles on Linkedin and Facebook. Having a company Instagram account allows you to share photos of your products and services and to help customers learn about what’s brewing. Connect with other people in your industry as well.

Start a Brand With Help From Your Customers

After you’ve started offering your products and service to customers, start talking to them about your brand. Get feedback from your most dedicated partners and see what they expect from you. Start a brand that the people around you are excited about.

If you want to avoid common branding pitfalls, check out these top mistakes companies make.