How to build global brand awareness
A business needs to establish its brand and stay true to it, for it to succeed. Business success also depends on how you amplify your brand to your customers, this is digital marketing comes in. You can improve your global online presence with a detailed organic international strategy or even use paid campaigns to target users in specific locations.
But what exactly is a brand? A business’s brand makes it unique and consists of a logo, values, tone of voice, colours, typography, imagery and anything else a business uses to distinguish itself.
Remember, without a strong brand identity, consumers won’t be able to recognise and remember you.
How do you create a brand?
Well, first of all, you need to think about your business. When starting a business many think of a name and a logo, however you need to establish much more of that.
Charlie Meyler, Brand Content Strategist, gives his best advice for creating a brand:
“Be authentic, first and foremost. Find what makes your brand, your brand. It could be the story behind its founding, the product and the way it brings value or the people that have built it.
Find those things and use them to build your brand. Tell a story about your brand and use this narrative in all your marketing.
A brand like Lucky Saint is a perfect example, they have done a fantastic job telling their story – why they exist, the value they provide, everything.
As well as telling a story, find your niche, as brands that try to be everything to everyone don’t work. By finding your niche, you find your community and from that, you can build a loyal base of customers who become proxy brand representatives.”
What do you value?
Your values help show the industry and your audience what you stand for, which helps them understand exactly what kind of business you are. They can also be a key reason why consumers choose your business over a competitor. For example, sustainability is a value that many people and businesses regard highly to do their bit for the Earth.
It’s important that whatever values you choose, you align your business to them and ensure your whole company stays true to them. Being a business that says one thing and does another is unauthentic, will damage your reputation and is a likely way to lose customers.
How do you speak?
When you speak as a brand, how do you speak and what do you say? You might think it doesn’t matter too much but having a tone of voice for your brand will make it easier to ensure all stakeholders stay consistent and don’t against your values or identity.
Again, the words you choose to share your brand messaging also care. If you’re a fun and energetic business you might use a more conversational tone and the occasional emoji. Whereas, if you’re more of a traditional and professional business emojis are probably not appropriate.
Where you say it is also important to ensure that you’re reaching the right people in the right way. For example, if one of your values is to be sustainable and to keep your carbon footprint as low as possible, printing hundreds of fliers to distribute doesn’t align with this.
What do you look like?
As mentioned, a large part of your brand identity is how you look. You might not think it matters, but even the colours you choose can play a big part in how consumers perceive your brand. For example, green colours tend to be more associated with sustainable business.
Then when you’ve chosen your colours, the way you present things, your typography and the images you use can all showcase what kind of business you are. For example, the images below, both are headshots, but one is more professional than the other, whilst the other is more relaxed and informal.
So now you have your brand, it’s time to take over the world…
Building a global brand
With technology, it’s never been easier for a business to have a global presence. But that doesn’t mean it’s an easy way to reach and keep customers across the world. As a business, you should have an international strategy that focuses on a wide range of processes and tasks to help you do this. Sounds like a lot? Well, we’re not going to lie to you, it is. However, below are a few things to get you started.
Consistency and widening your reach
The only way consumers are going to be able to recognise your brand and business is if you stay consistent with it. Think, is your company name, contact details, and logo all the same across your different online platforms (website, social media and Google My Business profile)? If not, then you need to make some edits.
If you want to go global you need to think bigger than just your local area. Fortunately, there are several ways you can target an audience across the other side of the world. Paid media (PPC and paid social) is just one example, that enables you to create paid campaigns to target users in specific areas who are searching or have an interest in products or services your business offers.
Don’t want to take a paid approach? That’s fine through a detailed organic strategy you can build your online visibility worldwide.
Think internationally and measure success
If you want to reach an international audience you need to think about the difference international audience. A key thing to think about is language, do your messages translate correctly and do your campaigns take into consideration the different cultures of your target audience?
The best way to know how world domination is coming along is to monitor your progress and success. Using tools such as Google Analytics and Ahrefs can help you see the locations where your website traffic is coming from. You can then use this data to make decisions about how to develop your international strategy further.
Want to know more about how to improve your online reach? Then take a look at the below pages.
Frequently asked questions
Answered by Charlie Meyler
What is the impact of a re-brand?
The impact of a rebrand can be huge when done well of course. There’s got to be a great deal of thought going into it… answering the why, what, who and when surrounding a re-brand is a good place to start. Have you had some bad PR? Do you think the brand is dated? A rebrand doesn’t have to happen as the result of something negative. What will the impact on your audience be? You also need to think about the post-rebrand and what the impact will be on your audience, your rankings, website traffic, and your brand visibility. Done well and done right a rebrand can be a positive thing to do in the long run.
Which aspect of branding is best to start with for a new business?
This depends on the type of business you are. First of all, you need to identify what kind of presence you want your business to have, which might be worth talking through with a Brand Consultant. Every business will have a different starting point, whether that be starting with a logo, a new website or starting with a colour scheme.
Can branding be flexible?
Yes, absolutely it can and definitely should be! Branding isn’t just a logo or a website, it’s your whole identity as a business. Your brand identity needs to be clear and cohesive whether you appear on a Google search result, a billboard or in an advert. For example, the Apple logo is a clear example of great branding, where we know exactly what campaigns they are behind even if it might not explicitly say it.
How do I add different language options to my website?
There are a few ways to go about doing this. You can have different URL structures with alternate languages depending on where you are. There’s also the option to let the user choose a language once they are on the website. Always remember to not use an automated translator like Google Translate, and try to get translations checked by a fluent/native speaker.
What are the cons of going global with my brand?
There are some cons if you are not set up properly and fully prepared. For example, think about are you able to fulfil orders/services from your location and do you have the resources to be able to ship internationally? Think about what your brand looks like from an international perspective and can you guarantee there is an audience for your business globally? If not done right- going global could tank your local traffic and visibility. With honest conversations at the start of a project like this, between key departments in a business, most negatives of going global can be avoided.
