The keys to successful brand building lay in the ability to effectively test, then invest. Designing a sustainable development model, balancing tech infrastructure, and maintaining constant engagement with your community are the tools for developing an influential brand.

If your company has a firm grasp on these concepts, I am confident you’ll grow to become a leader in your industry.

Test and Invest.

“When starting out, you probably have no data. You’ll assume you know who your demographic is. You’ll assume they want your product or service. You’ll even assume they’ll use all these great features. Assumptions are at best, an educated guess. Unless you’ve got a crystal ball, your assumptions are unlikely to be correct. Investing based on assumptions is taking a significant risk, no matter how calculated. Could you get lucky? People do all the time, but that’s no way to set yourself up for success.

You should be testing based on assumptions and investing based on data. With data, you’re working with cold hard facts. You’re taking most of the risk out of the equation. Your expected returns over time will be much higher.” )

Assumptions play a significant role in successful brand building. Leaders of industry refine their assumption making abilities over time. However, they tend to allocate determined amounts of capital to test how accurate their assumptions are. Then follow up on the successful ideas with more capital. 

When you’re starting out,  you probably have no data. You assume you know who your demographic is. You assume they’ll want your product or service. You assume they’ll use all these great features. Assumptions are at best, an educated guess.

Tech Infrastructure.

You are probably wondering what the hell this means. I’m not talking about taking your entire business digital. Although some businesses run completely fine on that model. What I am talking about involves real world businesses, utilizing tools to help business build their brand efficiently. Perhaps you don’t need that huge office that comes with an equally large overhead. So everyone can constantly be in the same room, and talk about reality tv? How can we move a few more units of product out the backdoor to help ease your overhead?

It isn’t about taking your entire business digital. Although there are some businesses that run completely fine on that model. What I am talking about involves real world businesses utilizing some tools, to help your business run more efficiently.

Maybe the way of the future involves building a workspace for collaboration & storage. Training your employees how to manage the day to day operations, while and staying in contact using cloud computing, face-time, and project management software. How would you feel if you were given the freedom to get everything at work completed in a couple hours of extremely productive work?

If you are a retail operation with the right online advertising targeting, and a streamlined online store you’d move more product across your regional area? These are all markets that could be tapped with the right strategies. 

Sustainable Development.

“Your idea is going to evolve. You’re going to want to change things, add things. Your users are going to demand it. You need to gather feedback with vigilance as one of the most important things you do. This will probably result in a never-ending cycle of development. It’s naive to think you’ll start with something that won’t need to be changed, and soon. Are you planning an overhaul of your new custom developed website within a few months? Didn’t think so. That’s exactly what most of us will need, especially with something new. The longer you wait, by circumstance or choice, the more your users, and eventually your bottom line, will suffer. Building something great isn’t one and done, or once in a while. It’s everyday.”

This explains a healthy growth strategy. Like in my personal life, it is important to have a business that is constantly improving the ways it runs. Increasing focus on productive means of operations, and decreasing expenses on inefficient processes and investments. Keep a holistic approach in mind. What are our goals and how do the numbers relate?

“Your idea is going to evolve. You’re going to want to change things, add things. Your users are going to demand it. You need to gather feedback with vigilance as one of the most important things you do.

Constant Engagement.

In my world of marketing and brand building, I am always aware of what my clients are saying about the products and services I am delivering(and the competition). Whether I am engaging with people on different social platforms, in the streets, my office, or over a meal. I am always aware of things people say. Primarily when it will test my assumptions about a specific market, or confirm the beliefs I have established. Otherwise known as confirmation bias, which is a relatively common trait among people.

Having the ability to pick up on things that prove our assumptions wrong and incorporate them into our decision-making process, is something that is a little less common.

Having the ability to pick up on things that prove our assumptions wrong and incorporate them into our decision-making process is something that is a little less common. It comes from understanding that although we are wrong about something, it does not mean that we are necessarily incompetent. Rather, that we just lacked complete knowledge. Once we have gained the knowledge that was missing, we are able to form a complete opinion and deploy successful brand building strategies.