Learning how to start a brand is exciting, fun, and a little bit scary!

You get to bring your creative vision to life, building a unique identity for your very own business. But there’s also a lot of pressure.

With so many things to think about, it’s hard to know where to start. And because your brand is the foundation of your business, you really don’t want to rush ahead and make a mess of it!

If you’re ready to sink your teeth into starting a new brand, you need to know the most important things to do first.

I’ve listed the top three actions you should add to your to-do list below – let’s get working on how to start a brand!

How To Start A Brand: 3 Must-Do Tasks

1. Do Your Research

Before you even think about colours, fonts, and catchy slogans, you need to understand who your target audience is.

Your brand should be designed to appeal to and connect with your ideal customer, so it makes sense to get a handle on precisely who that is before you go any further.

That means it’s time to get stuck into some juicy research!

Start by creating a customer persona. Determine your target audience’s age, location, income, hobbies, pain points, and aspirations. These factors will help you get your branding on point and make marketing a little easier when it comes to that stage of the process.

Once you have a target market in mind, you could do deeper research by talking to or surveying them to find out exactly what they are looking for in a brand.

This is also a great time to do a little detective work into your competitors. Look at their products, pricing, branding and marketing. This helps you figure out what is and isn’t proving to be successful in the marketplace and gives you an opportunity to identify the things that make your brand unique.

2. Choose Your Persona

It’s time to put all that research into action to create your brand persona. At this stage, it’s all about nailing down the “feels” of your branding before you get to the visual representation.

Every brand has an identity that tells people who they are and what they represent. Your brand needs to accurately reflect the values and beliefs of your business. If you already have a vision and mission, your brand persona can be drawn from that. If not, it’s time to craft one.

If you’re feeling stuck, try to imagine your brand as a person. What kind of words would you use to describe them?

Are they bold, brave, innovative, irreverent or cheeky? Or perhaps professional, polished, and caring?

These descriptors will be helpful in choosing the visual media representing your brand as well as the tone and voice of your content and marketing materials.

Related: How to get your small business started fast

3. Design Your Visual Brand

Now that you’ve done the groundwork, it’s time to breathe life into your brand. For me, this is the fun part – and if you’ve put enough detail into steps one and two, it should be relatively straightforward.

You will need to select the colour palette that represents your brand. Remember, it’s not a matter of choosing your favourite colours. You need to find the hues that convey the feeling behind your brand. There’s lots of info online about the psychology of colours, so refer to this if you’re having trouble deciding.

Choose one or two key fonts (again, in styles that reflect your unique brand persona), and get to work on the perfect logo and slogan.

Need Support With How To Start A Brand?

When thinking about how to start a brand, it’s helpful to create as many materials as possible at the beginning. That way you have a collection of images, templates, and catchy phrases at the ready.

But, if you don’t have a visual eye, it can be tricky to create these resources. Luckily, there are plenty of design experts out there that can help you with the visuals. Seek out small businesses that offer graphic design, you might even be able to swap services with them if you have something they need.

Don’t forget that brand photos are an essential part of the branding puzzle. And it’s easier to create professional-style photos at home than you think! I help startups, bootstrapping entrepreneurs and small biz owners get more online with DIY professional photos. Find out more about it here.