Branding A Business With Trademarks
Branding a business is especially important for small businesses to set their business apart from competitors. Brand identity is one of the most valuable assets of a business. Moreover, it is critically important to have an identifiable brand during tough economic times when it is vital to keep current clients in order to remain in business.
The benefits of having a strong identifiable brand with registered trademarks are:
What to Know About Branding
The best way to protect your band is by registering your trademark. Trademarks identify the goods and/or services of a business, which allows consumers and potential customers to distinguish between your goods and/or services and the goods and/or services of another business in the same or similar industry. Unregistered trademarks can be protected under common law; however, it is much easier and more cost effective for a small business to enforce their trademark rights in a registered trademark than in an unregistered trademark. This is why businesses, inventors and entrepreneurs should strongly consider obtaining a federally registered trademark issued by the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) in order to ensure protection of their brand.
Make the Business Stand Out With A Unique Trademark
The size of your brand does not have to equal the size of your business. Simply because you have a small business with ten employees doesn’t mean you cannot have a brand the size of a company with 100 employees. Even with a small business, you can create a unique brand filled with personality to connect with your current and future clients. All successful brands have a unique, relevant, and compelling place in the thoughts and hearts of clients and customers. Positioning your business based on brand differentiation is what builds the value of your brand and business. Create a difference with your brand with unique trademarks and it will stand out.
Know the Business Market
The better you know and understand your business audience and the more affinity you have with those people, the greater the potential you will have to create a brand that will resonate with consumers. Businesses must actively research and understand the market landscape to understand clearly how to differentiate your brand in the market. If you truly understand the market you are competing in, you can better position your brand in a compelling way that results in sustained success. Businesses must also understand their clients’ views of the marketplace by seeking their feedback. You do this by asking them how you can better serve their needs. This information will help you find your business’ niche. To capture your market, make sure your brand is uniquely positioned, clearly understood by consumers, and in tune with the your customers’ needs. These are “must haves” to blow away the competitors.
Narrowly Target Your Brand
Brands that try to do a little of everything for everyone usually end up meaning nothing to anyone. If you truly understand your audience and the marketplace, you can choose your brand with focus. Having a focused brand exhibits confidence to your customers, which attracts them to your brand. Target your brand to your audience and the business will come.
Ensure Brand Consistency
Brand consistency is essential for the longevity of your brand because it creates consumer confidence and brand affinity. Consumers are very mindful of how brands change the way they speak to customers and do business. Customers tend to distrust businesses that adopt different personalities. Thus, it is essential to determine how you market your brand to your customers. To create loyalty to your brand, you want your customers to have a consistent experience at every point of their relationship with your brand. The way you run your business should also affirm what your brand promises. Don’t dilute your brand’s position and allow competitors to take your market share by having an inconsistent brand.
Use Social Networking Tools
Today, social networking is everywhere. To successfully market your brand, your business must be actively marketing the brand on the various social platforms – Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, among others. Social networking gives companies the ability to cast a wider net to spread the word about their unique brand more than ever before with minimal effort. The more buzz you can create about your brand on social networking sites, the stronger it will become as a business asset.
Protect the Brand With Registered Trademarks
Once you have a unique, targeted and consistent brand, you will want to protect that brand to ensure no one dilutes its value – see trademark dilution. Creating and protecting a brand is creating and protecting the identity of your business – see trademark protection. The brand represents the intellectual capital of your business, and includes various assets that together are labeled the goodwill of your business. Creating a brand increases the value of your business, which in turn, increases the goodwill of your business. Goodwill is something that is important for every business to protect to ensure that no one else is profiting off the goodwill that you created under your brand and business.
The best way to protect your band is by registering your trademark. Trademarks identify the goods and/or services of a business, which allows consumers and potential customers to distinguish between your goods and/or services and the goods and/or services of another business in the same or similar industry. Unregistered trademarks can be protected under common law; however, it is much easier and more cost effective for a small business to enforce their trademark rights in a registered trademark than in an unregistered trademark. This is why businesses, inventors and entrepreneurs should strongly consider obtaining a federally registered trademark in order to ensure protection of their brand.
