Branding Your Small Business For Success

Before you can move forward with the more tactical steps in your branding strategy (like designing your logo), you need to take the time to get really clear on who you are as a company – or in other words, your brand identity.

You can use branding to let people know what they can expect from your company, really early. Once you put that brand that you created out there, and you begin integrating that into everything that your company does, you will be able to influence the way that people see your company. It is an investment your company is making in order to make your business better, and prospective customers will recognise that you put the effort in creating your brand.

Brand narrative

If you want better ads for your business, you are going to have to put the effort into creating a brand first. You will want to work on your brand narrative at the same time as other brand efforts. If you want to effectively build your brand, you need to build your branding logo and tagline, which will be the face of your company throughout all of your marketing materials.

With a good branding, you can give your brand a more human face, one your customers will relate to more than with a strictly all-business type company. You can build a brand that people really care about, and put yourself above businesses who are not using it to their advantage. You do not want to only have customers that acknowledge your brand and use your business one time – you want to build customers who keep coming back.

Customer research

To ensure that you are building the right brand, it is recommended to re-evaluate who your customers are through thorough customer research. Before you can create a brand your target audience will trust, you must understand the value that your company provides.

As such, identifying the ideal audience for your company will underpin your entire digital brand-building strategy. A well-defined content marketing strategy will help you connect with your target audience more effectively and nurture them throughout the buyer journey – establishing trust with the brand that ultimately leads to conversions.

Brand identity

Whether it is the visual language that defines your logo or business cards, the customer service you offer, or the interactions on your social media platforms, knowing your brands identity will allow you to deliver consistent, authentic messaging throughout your company. Whether it is your logo, your business card, or your website, the right visual identity for your brand is one that best represents your brands purpose, brand personality, and brand story. Your visual identity, including your logo, is a consumers first impression of your brand, so it is critical for your visual identity to make a good impression.

Your brands identity influences your customers whole experience, and it eventually impacts the way others perceive your authority and your business. Your brands visual identity is easily the most identifiable thing about your company, and it also impacts your reputation. Your brands identity is the set of elements that your business has created to represent your brand to customers.

Branding encompasses not just the visual identity of your business, but the general way customers perceive your brand. Simply put, your brand is defined by the customers general perception of your company. Your brand influences all aspects of how customers perceive your business. Your brand is your companys face, and it is likely to be one of the most valuable assets you have in building a business reputation.

Reflect your brand

Integrating your brand throughout your company means that every facet of your company needs to reflect your brand, whether that is your online presence, retail stores, customer service, or your email communications. Your brand needs to be present and remain consistent everywhere customers interact with you, from the themes you choose for your website, to the marketing materials you create, all the way down to the way you pack and ship your products. When thinking about your logo, remember your audience and product/service, as you want your logo to represent your business. It is important that you have an image that links your audience with your company, so when they see your logo on a flyer or on your website, they will instantly remember you.

Your logo is like your businesss face; it is the first thing that most customers will see when they come across your brand – and it is the visual that is going to link most strongly with your business. Your brand tells customers what they can expect from your products and services, and differentiates your offerings from competitors. From a distance, it might appear that your brand is just made up of elements such as a logo and colors, but in reality, your brand is your companys whole identity. Once you create a powerful, memorable logo, in addition to the other elements that make up your branding, it is essential for potential and current customers to see and be familiar with your branding.

This information allows you to design a compelling, effective brand that will attract the right people. Once you identify your buyer personas, you can begin building the brand.

Brand voice

Branding helps show prospective customers that you are a trusted, reputable company. By developing a strong brand voice (and then carrying that brand voice through all of your content), you are reinforcing to customers who you are and what you are all about – this builds rapport and helps you generate business. Think of this as building trust through proxies; if your customers are introduced to your brand through a brand that they already know and trust, they are far more likely to extend that trust to you — and, by extension, to give you their business.

Whether you are hiring a brand consultant or doing all of the work yourself, it is one thing to invest the time, energy, and resources required to create a brand, but another to figure out exactly what customers really think of it — and of your company. Your brand might not have the budget that larger corporations have, but you do have the necessary skillsets to build a winning brand design. Brands act as guides to your marketing plans, while marketing propels your company, products, and services, building on and harnessing the power of your brand.

Feature Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay