Branding for a Small Business – 7 Ways to Creating a Working Brand
Creating a strong brand for a small business can give you a big competitive edge and higher profit margin. A small business’s brand and marketing materials must do more than just ‘look pretty’ — they need be effective as well. For your brand to “work” for your business it should accomplish these goals:
1. Build Trust – Your company brand should make your customers think, “That company is reliable, and always delivers what it promises”. Make sure your promise is what you focus on. If you promise great service, be sure your staff is well trained understands what great service means. The key here is is never over promise and under deliver.
2. Define Your Point of Difference – Your brand should stand out from your competitor for one specific reason. It should also look more polished and professional. As a small business, competing against other small business this can be a real competitive edge. By investing in professional brand materials and a website you can immediately position yourself in a premium position and possibly command a higher price.
3. Communicate Credibility - Your brand design, slogan, and writing should all evoke a sense of expertise. To be authentic, be sure you are up on the current topics, trends or latest technology in your industry. Showcase your experience, training and continued commitment to being on top of your game.
4. Communicate – Tell your story. Be creative and explain what makes your business unique. To tell you story, you could start by asking these questions: Why are your doing this? What are you helping people with? This story will help you create your ‘elevator speech’ which should explain what you do in in a brief, compelling way. Your communication must also be consistent across all mediums – visually and non-visually.
5. Build Confidence – Your brand should help you feel more confident in marketing your business, which in turn will make your customers feel more confident in you and your company. You should love your brand, your logo, and your materials so that you enthusiastically want to hand them out.
6. Make Your Business Memorable – Visuals are an essential part of making your brand memorable. Presentation does matter. Invest in great design. Ninety three percent said that they put most importance on visual factors when purchasing products. (Source: Research conducted by the secretariat of the Seoul International Color Expo 2004) Make sure your brand’s visuals have impact with feeling.
7. Build Your Business – The ultimate job of your brand is to build your business. Asking yourself “Will this help build my business?” is a quick way to decide on spending money on a marketing method. Really understand your customers to know where to invest your marketing dollars. Your marketing should pay back, not be be an expense. (Source: Research conducted by the secretariat of the Seoul International Color Expo 2004) Make sure your brand’s visuals have impact with feeling.
A small business “working” brand will help you connect with your BEST customers to grow your business and clearly position your brand in a unique way in your market.
