In part I of What is a Brand Image, we defined a brand image as the perception of your business in the eyes of the people that take notice. We also covered why your brand image is so important by establishing that your brand image will drive every business decision you make. 

To get started on defining your brand image, all you need to do is follow five simple steps. We discussed the first three in part I; Establish the purpose of your business, Identify your target market, and Create a defining statement. Hopefully, you used the last month to dig into these first three steps. If not, we recommend starting at the beginning before proceeding to the next steps shown below, as the last two steps will reference the work you completed in the first three steps.

We will now continue by reviewing the final two steps to initiate the development of your brand image.

4) Establish business critical goals

A business critical goal is a target that is vital to the success of your business, and is most often tied to high-level business strategies. These goals are instrumental to consider while building your brand image, because your brand image is meant to support and drive your core business. 

One of the best ways to consider business critical goals is to step back to your big picture view that you created in step one of this article. While your five year view may seem like a distant dream right now, this is the time to set the stage for these dreams to have the structure and support they will need when it is time to bring them to fruition. 

For instance, if you’re building a brand that will start out selling custom snapback hats, you may think of setting up your brand as Snap Back. However, if we take a step back to your five year view, we see that you have dreams of expanding your product line to include custom shirts and pants. Therefore, one of your business critical goals would be to offer a broad range of custom product lines. 

So if you start your brand as Snap Back, your brand would be incredibly limited. If we take a look at the common theme through each of these products, we can deduce that our brand is actually focused on custom apparel designs. With that five year view in mind, and realizing that your business’ core is custom designs, you can apply a better representation to your brand, such as Made. By including this business critical goal in your brand image development, you can ensure that all of your products/services will be well-represented within your brand image.

5) Define all of your revenue streams

Revenue streams are the channels through which your business earns money. The primary revenue stream for most businesses is the revenue from a product or service. Within this primary revenue stream, there are four secondary categories to identify your revenue sources. These secondary categories are:

• Transactional revenue; usually a one-time sale of a physical product

• Service revenue; service provided on an hourly basis

• Project revenue; one-time projects executed on an hourly basis, or based on a projected timeline

• Recurring revenue; most commonly identified as a subscription or licensing fee that recurs monthly or annually

By identifying each of your business’ revenue streams, you will ensure equal representation across your brand image. For example, if your business offers fitness services, your instinct may be to immediately classify your primary revenue stream as a service-based channel, and just leave it at that. But, let’s pull that big picture view back into scope, and consider that within one year you are aiming to provide branded workout clothing and accessories. By putting your business in a box of the present view, you are limiting your potential growth. 

Let’s take it a step further by addressing the secondary categories and how your fitness brand fits into them. Assuming you are one year in, and now offer fitness services as well as branded workout gear, you could box yourself in again by classifying your secondary revenue streams as transactional and service revenue. However, if we take another step back and look at your three year view, we can note that you have a goal to introduce a monthly membership service that would include a certain amount of classes per month, along with complimentary branded gear every 6 months of continued service. This would bring in the additional category of recurring revenue to your secondary categories. Keeping that big picture view in mind is imperative to setting your brand up for success and the ability to scale and evolve. 

In conclusion, by establishing the purpose of your business, identifying your target market, creating your defining statement, establishing your business critical goals, and defining your revenue streams, you will have the foundation to help you build an engaging brand image for your business. Remember, this will only be a starting point to build on. The most recognizable brands out there refresh their brand image every 6-8 months. After all, as your business grows and evolves, your brand image should follow in suit. Refreshing your brand will usually be initiated through a brand image analysis. Once you have an engaging brand image to start out with, it is time to begin crafting your business’ marketing strategy. 

Now that you have completed the first three steps of establishing your brand image, you are ready to take on the last two steps we have covered here in part II. Keep that big picture in mind as you tackle these last two steps. Every time you think you’ve considered each detail, walk away for 15 minutes and let your mind wander to your dreams in the not too distant future. Then, come back and see how much more you need to account for. Remember, it is a process. Go get ‘em!

When you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here for you.