Why Small Business Must Take Branding Seriously
Branding is crucial for any business including small business. Small businesses don’t have the huge budgets and manpower that larger competitors do however, successful branding doesn’t have to cost the earth and doesn’t require a huge team of people to make it happen. Small businesses tend to be more flexible and responsive so it’s about creating a strategic branding plan and sticking with it.
Here are six aspects of branding every small business should consider:
1. Brand Reliability
Your branding efforts should communicate to your target market that you are a reliable, trustworthy business that is an authority in your industry or niche. It’s no point trying to communicate you are reliable if your track record doesn’t support that. Your track record will create word of mouth and should reinforce your brand integrity, consistency and clarity in dealing with your customers. If it doesn’t, it won’t matter how professional your logo design is, your brand will suffer.
2. Brand Trust
Once you have a reliable business it’s time to build upon the trust you are creating. Trust in your business should naturally grow as your brand develops however there are things you can do to speed up the process. The first thing you should do is create a strong logo for your brand, that way people will identify your good work and associate it with your brand. If you don’t have a strong visual brand, it’s likely the trust will be built toward the workers in your organisation as opposed to the brand. This is dangerous ground if your workers leave and join your competitors. A logo is not the only visual branding you should consider, create a plan to always use the same fonts, colours, imagery and style throughout all your marketing and branding material, that way people will start recognising it.
3. Brand Recall
Visual branding is one of the easiest ways to create brand recall. 40 percent of individuals are visual learners, meaning they will recall what they see more that what they touch, hear or read. That’s why visual branding is critical. Your logo, its colour scheme, background and font style and how they are applied in all your marketing pieces can create a powerful message however, it should always been reinforced with the written message.
4. Brand Confidence
Marketing your small business with confidence is only possible if you have a strong brand to support your material. Repetition and frequency help to build confidence in your brand so create consistency in your brand. When prospects receive your marketing materials with its recognised logo and visual style, confidence in your brand will be reinforced.
5. Your Brand Story
Every brand has a story. People connect with story telling. How can you use your brand story to connect with your target market? If it is interesting, tell your prospects the reason for creating the business and what makes your business unique in the marketplace. When you create a connection with your target market, they are more likely to do business with you.
6. Be Unique
Stand out from the crowd. Be impressive. What makes you different from the rest of your industry? Maybe it’s your unequalled professionalism, maybe its how you operate. Whatever it is, your brand should represent your unique selling point. Even if most of what you do is similar to what your competitors are doing, let them ‘sell’ why that is important and you communicate the one or two percent that makes you unique. What a powerful brand position, if you can say “Yes, we do what our competitors do equally as well however, let me explain to you what makes us completely unique.”
