Brands help define, establish, and attract consumers to companies, often intertwining service with an image and product. Not only does the label or product have to be aesthetically pleasing, but it has to appeal to your target audience so that you and your business can maximize upon profit.

As a new entrepreneur, you will learn the various personalities, behaviors, and buying and spending patterns of their audiences. In addition, a truly valuable and versatile product/service can be used by more than just one niche demographic. But how do brand a business that appeals to consumers on a larger scale?

These seven tips have you covered:

1. Build Your Brand’s Meaning

People care about building meaning and purpose in their lifestyles. Your business should successfully do this while harnessing its ability to improve the everyday life of its users. When it comes to branding and advertising your product, make sure you don’t broadly pursue everyone, but only those who will embrace your product on a regular basis.

Branding needs to incorporate a broader agenda than simply marketing. If you manage it in the right way, you can emphasize a meaningful brand’s success by creating an aura over your brand; one of purpose, meaning, and self-awareness.

2. Create an Emotionally Appealing Story

Nowadays, branding and storytelling go hand-in-hand. As circular, more sustainable business models and consumer demands change how businesses impact the outer world; loyal followers want to know how. Creating an emotional appeal to your product and how your business is positively impacting or paying-it-forward is an essential way to appeal to consumers, especially Millennials. Many businesses are creating online branded content that offers a story for viewers to see how they’re product might impact the world on a bigger scale. For example, a organic denim company might demonstrate how their jeans are helping to stabilize the workers in a country where they source environmentally-friendly material. Not only does it help create a sense of purpose for the brand, but it also appeals to the emotional sensibilities of people, which is the precursor to a more loyal, deeper connection with your followers.

3. Know Your Audience

Brands need to know their target markets. And that means keeping up with current and changing consumer trends in your niche market, but also investment fields, and global economies (wherever you’re product is sold). Entrepreneurs need to constantly learn new shifts in technology and implement that in their branding and overall business strategies. Knowing your demographics will help lead the direction for the tone and identity of your marketing campaigns and the overall brand. Plus, you can help create an organic connection with your audiences if you know what appeals to them. Trying to appeal to everyone can be counterproductive for your brand, causing it to become too inconsistent and diluted.

4. Maintain Consistency

The presentation of your business needs to be consistent and flawless. If you want to draw a loyal user base, then they’re going to want a product and service they can rely on frequently. In addition, when consumers come back to use a business, they want to see the same quality they did the first time. So many industries are saturated with competitors and inconsistent products and it’s often a major reason why consumers do business elsewhere. It’s essential to remain true to your sense of consistency and customer service. A good example of this is McDonald’s. They offer a consistent menu throughout the world. Someone who orders a Big Mac whether it’s in Singapore or New York knows what it’s going to taste like.

5. Utilize Multi-Channel Platforms

Harvard Business Review reports that in the future of business relies heavily on an e-commerce framework. And since most of the world is digitally connected — as IoT (The Internet of Things) will only continue to prevail in the future — then multi-channel and omni-present platforms are the way to go. Your users need to be able to communicate with your brand through pictures, news feeds, videos, and timelines so they can get an accessible and overarching sense of the business brand goals.

6. Solidify Competitive Prowess

It’s hard to gain an upper hand over the competition in today’s fast-paced world. Teams need to collaborate well together to survive. Often, brands need to be on the cutting edge of burgeoning industries which allows them to gain insight into implementing innovations into their business structure. The most stable and successful brands are constantly shifting and putting in the time to offer their consumers the most user-friendly, high-quality products on the market. In addition, companies need to maintain a sense of authenticity and transparency that drives trust between the consumer and the business.

7. Develop Your Leadership Skills

Influential leaders need to make their mark on their brands. For a strategic vision, leaders need to hold direction and empower their consumers with insights, offerings, and useful tools. Leaders are constantly learning how to communicate with others, so it’s essential that you put your best foot forward when trying to gain expertise in your field. In addition, brand leaders can help gain visibility to their brand through thought leadership, social media activity, and continued support and advice for consumers and those in their field. Establishing a thoughtful voice in the world can help loyal consumers appreciate and respect your passion and vision. They may also feel you’re offering them in-the-know knowledge from which they can benefit. They need to be able to resolve complications and act as a liaison to solve any internal problems. Whether you’re the CEO of a large corporation or small business owner, you have to motivate and optimize the efforts of your team.

These characteristics and approaches can help companies build growing companies and models that could help stabilize and benefit the lives of people in the future. As a rapidly changing worlds shifts our ideas of what consumers know and want, we can reshape and innovate so we can provide a better world for both our business and the world at large.