Building your brand, in many ways, is the backbone of business marketing success. Branding is more than a catchy motto. Building a brand the right way requires organization, planning, and proactive steps towards establishing style, feel, and the value of your business. It helps to remind yourself that a brand has the potential to go on beyond your own lifespan. People will continue to follow an attractive brand if they feel connected to it. Plan the various traits of your brand based on the intentions of your business strategy. Not only will a well-designed brand increase recognition, it will give you the ability to start proactively defining your brand and not leave your reputation to chance. The following are 6 essential tips for building your brand via email. 1. Add value for your customers Go beyond the basics of providing your products or services to customers. Giving them something more promotes your brand as adding value to their lives, and builds your relationship along with your brand. In today’s world, providing customers with useful information via your website, blog posts or email newsletters is a great way to go above and beyond for your potential readers. 2. Adapt In today’s continuously changing business and technology environment, businesses must adapt quickly while maintaining the core values their brands are based upon. Expecting and preparing for these changes will differentiate your brand from those businesses who cannot or will not change with the times. Continuously evaluate new trends, ideas, and opportunities, especially in the areas of social media marketing where new opportunities for brand building seem to spring up almost daily. 3. Match behavior with results By examining your business’ rate of success and failure, determine what about your performance needs improvement. Uncover the problems before your audience does. Prevent small issues from becoming big ones, stay on budget, and communicate frequently to get results. Show off your brand by using stories that not only answer an interviewer’s questions but also showcase the strengths of your brand. 4. Be personally ubiquitous If people hear your name enough, chances are they will find you on their own. Participate in social media but only through services that are appropriate for your business. Focus on Twitter and Facebook and try to use these both in a way that helps you reach out to more people without devaluing your email marketing content. People will only remember a few things about you, so focus on telling the story that contributes to your brand in a positive way. Use a personal story or a testimonial from a satisfied client as the basis for your expertise. 5. Get people talking If you don’t want to spend time responding to emails, simply make this a characteristic of your personal brand so that people do not expect differently. In other words, if you only have time to respond to half the emails you receive just inform your audience of this so they know what to expect. The most common reason for negative criticisms typically stems from the feeling a customer gets when you fail to meet their expectations. Make your intentions clear from the start and inform your audience that you conduct business in a certain way to avoid disappointing them. 6. Build name recognition An influencer is anyone with an audience that you want to reach. Find the ones that complement your brand and comment on their writing, help them when they ask for it, and if they have a blog, ask to try to guest-post. Not only do you have plenty to learn from these people, they are the ones that can tweet your links to thousands of followers and can share the best opportunities with you. Having said that, don’t pester them or ask for more favors than you can give in return. If you are of any value, these influencers should remember you. Building your online brand requires continuous monitoring of content associated with your business. Focus on creating quality content that will expand your influence, display your strengths, and network with others to build a solid foundation for your brand.