As a small business owner, coming across Apple or Nike as examples of good brands may sound overwhelming. It may sound like ‘branding’ is meant for top companies only. That’s a myth. No matter how small your business is, good branding is worth investing in.
Also, you do not need a Nike-sized account balance to build effective business branding. You can create powerful branding for your small business with little tips and strategies. Consider this article the ultimate small business branding guide.
Branding Definition
Apple. Cocacola. Nike. These three companies have one main thing in common: a powerful brand image. That’s why people love to use them as examples of successful brands.
Great branding gives your business a compelling identity beyond your products or services. 66% of consumers say that a business brand’s culture may attract them to buy the business products. This means a good branding strategy can determine whether you will reach more people or stay where you are.
Before we get into branding definition, it’s good to know what a brand itself means.
Brand: a set of features that distinguish your organization from another. It’s also the customer’s overall experience when they come across your business.
Branding: involves identifying and developing strategic features to create the perception you want your customers to have about your business.
Good branding will influence your audience’s overall perception of your business. The perception of your business is beyond the quality of your products/services but also includes elements like:
- Customer service and experience
- Brand values
- Brand reputation
- Brand personality
Why Building a Brand Important for Small Businesses?
Good branding is essential for every business but especially for small businesses. Why? Your brand gives customers an idea of what your business is all about; it does the talking for your business.
Also, brands are more than the products or services they offer. Nike is more than a pair of sneakers, and Cocacola is more than a fizzy drink. Consumers form perceptions about your business when they interact with your products or come across them. That’s why branding is essential because it helps you create the perception you want customers to have of your business.
A good business branding strategy will;
- Improve customer’s perception of your business
- Increase your brand awareness
- Set you apart from competitors, and
- Ultimately improve your company’s position.
Isn’t that what everyone wants for their business? Here are 9 branding strategies for your small business.
9 Small Business Branding Guidelines
Branding Guidelines is a document that highlights branding strategies needed to create a compelling brand image. They contain rules that define the overall look and perception you want for your brand. It’s important to write down your business branding strategies because it serves as a guide when implementing them.
Let’s take a look at 9 important branding strategies for small businesses:
1. Define Your Brand Purpose
Your brand purpose is about who you are as a company and what you intend to achieve with your business. The more you understand who you are and why your service/products are important to people, the easier it is to define your brand purpose. When determining your brand identity, you should be able to answer questions like:
- What is the purpose of my business?
- What problem does my business solve?
- What (will) differentiate this business from others already solving the same problem?
- What are my company’s goals and values?
- What is your brand story?
2. Research Your Target Audience
Who are you trying to sell your products or services to? It may sound like an easy question, but generic answers like ‘everyone,’ ‘every woman,’ ‘children’ won’t cut it.
You should take your time to map out a specific and ideal target audience. Start by researching your prospective customers’ needs, habits, and demographic characteristics. A simple way to define your perfect target audience is by identifying their demography and behavior. Ask questions like:
- Who are they?
- How old are they?
- What do they like?
- What is their education and income level?
- Where is their location?
- Why would they need your products or services?
- When would they need it?
- What matters to them most in a brand?
At the end of this, your target audience won’t be ‘every woman’ but something like; ‘fresh female graduates’ or ‘women working for startups.’
It will be easy to get many things right when you identify your target audience, including your brand voice. Knowing your target audience also guides your branding strategies and marketing campaigns so that it appeals to your audience.
3. Research Your Competitors
Researching your competitors may seem odd, but it’s one of the most important branding tips for small businesses. As a business owner, it’s important to know what your competitors are doing right (or wrong). Knowing this will help you understand where your brand fits in the marketplace and what you can do differently.
Therefore, assess your competitors and study how they showcase their brands on different channels. Also, remember that the point of researching your competitors isn’t to copy them but to do things a little bit differently.
4. Design the Creative Elements of Your Business
Once you know who you are, who your customers are, and what your competitors are doing, it’s time to design your brand. Your visual identity is one of the most vital parts of your branding and marketing campaigns. They are basically the exterior appearance and are the most recognizable things about your business. Think about a time you bought from a brand because their packaging materials looked good?
The visual elements involve the things that help people identify you or can tell them about your business. Here is a list of some common creative features you’ll need to define the look of your brand:
- Logos: Your logo is the central part of your visual identity and helps people identify your brand fast. Starbucks logo, the mermaid green, is so memorable that you know it’s Starbucks.
- Brand Color Palettes: Most brands usually choose their brand color from the shade used on the logo. Coca-Cola, for example, has a red-white logo, which is also their brand color. There are also tools that help suggest brand colors based on your logos. Most brands often have about two-three brand colors, one being the primary color.
- Typography/Fonts: Your fonts should also have a particular style and size. What you pick as your fonts may also depend on your logo and target audience.
- Website: Your website is an integral part of your brand’s visual identity and brand communication. Many brands are starting to invest in professional-looking websites that are well designed and tell a visitor everything they need to know about your brand.
- Photography: Images play an important role in brand identity. It’s best to have a consistent photography style from the onset.
- Business cards: Your business card design should match your logo and other design elements.
An important tip for designing the creative elements of your brand is to be consistent. Inconsistency can confuse your customers. For example, if you have a different logo design on your website than the one on your product, customers may not know which is which. Also, it’s okay to keep your visual elements simple. Think of iconic brands; they majorly have simple yet memorable logo designs.
5. Build a Likable Brand Personality
Branding makes it easy for people to think of your business as a person, just one person. Your brand should have a great personality so that when people come across a post or a message, they automatically know that it’s from you.
It can be helpful to think of your brand as a person, determine what it will sound like (brand voice), its traits (brand identity), and how it will interact with others (brand communication). Any content, post, or customer service should sound like one person, even if you have a whole team behind your brand.
Your personality can be anything from jovial to professional and creative. Anything you want it to be, as long as it speaks well of your brand and fits your target audience persona. Dove’s personality, for example, comes across as confident and inspiring. This personality comes out strongly in their marketing campaigns around the definition of beauty.
6. Decide on Your Brand Message
Your designs alone won’t create brand loyalty for your business; that’s where your brand message comes in. The messages you want to send can come in the form of:
- Brand mission
You may already have a mission statement if you have a business name and plan. A mission statement describes why your business exists and how you want to make a difference in just a few words. Meanwhile, a good brand mission should go beyond monetary objectives. According to Goalcast, a good brand mission inspires customers’ passion and sets you apart from competitors.
- Brand story
Everyone loves a story. A brand story is a compelling narrative about your business; it explains how and why you started it. Fenty Beauty’s brand story is to “create a makeup line where people everywhere will feel included.“
Now, what’s yours?
- Brand values
Your brand values are the things your business stands for. Decide on two to five beliefs or values that drive your company and connect with your audience. Your values may be one-worded like “Diversity”, or a phrase like ” We ensure equity and inclusion for all.”
- Tagline
A tagline is a memorable phrase or slogan that summarizes your business or what it stands for. Taglines are meant to be short and memorable. Some catchy brand taglines include:
- Apple: Think Different
- KFC: Finger-Licking Good
- Nike: Just Do It
- Brand Voice
Your brand voice describes how your brand will communicate to your prospective audience, influencing how people see your business. Do you want to greet people with ‘Dear Customer’ or ‘Hi, Rebbeca?’ Do you want to sign off newsletters with ‘Regards’ or ‘Sending my Love?’ These are things you need to figure out.
7. Promote and Promote Again
You are not done branding your business if you are not promoting that brand. This is why you need a marketing strategy to promote your brand effectively. As a small business owner, you may not have a huge budget for your business branding. But, you can spend less and still get your brand in front of your ideal customers through digital marketing campaigns.
Integrate your brand across multiple social media platforms, promote your brand, and build an effective strategy to market your brand. Some popular platforms and tools to sell your brand include:
- Social Media
- Paid Advertising
- Content Marketing
- Influencer Marketing
8. Offer Quality Products, Offer Quality Experience
Today’s market is so competitive, so if you want to stay ahead, you need your products and services to do their part. It’s not enough to have a great business branding that gets attention if the quality of your products or customer relationship is poor.
For this reason, pay attention to your brand reputation and ensure that people get exactly what they hope. Think about it: if your customers have a great experience with your business, they will do business with you again and also tell their friends. In other words, offering great products and services increases brand loyalty and brand awareness.
9. Refine and Rebrand
Your brand identity may change over time, and you may need to restructure your branding. That’s okay because businesses are allowed to keep evolving. Rebranding may include changing your logo, changing your product packaging (see how many times Coca-Cola changed bottles before the current one), or even changing your brand name.
It’s okay to rebrand, retest new business branding strategies, and refine your brand. Meanwhile, consistency is important in small business branding, so you must incorporate your new branding elements across different channels.
