If asked, could your clients accurately describe your business in three words? Could your employees? If not, your branding may not be as solid as it needs to be and it’s time to properly build your brand!
Creating a reputable brand can be challenging but worth it. It’s important for your customers to be able to identify you and understand what you do clearly.
This can feel very overwhelming for small business owners. Building a brand is extensive, and you may not have as much time as you’d like to invest.
At Succeeding Small, we understand the importance of a business’s brand being recognizable and consistent. A brand is so much more than just a logo. That being said, various essential elements must be considered when creating your brand
Purpose
When considering your business and branding, you should ask yourself, “What is the purpose of my company?”
Your initial answer might be to make money.
Take it a step further. Think critically about your higher purpose in doing what you do. Understanding why you choose to have your business at all will help you clarify some of your core values and exemplify your brand.
An excellent example of purpose is IKEA’S mission and vision: “To create a better everyday life for the many people”.
You likely know why you started your business and why you serve who you serve, yet you’ve never put it into words or used it when designing any marketing around your business.
Association
Knowing what your brand will be associated with is key when building your brand.
For example, what do you associate with Coca-Cola? Maybe the holiday season with the funny polar bear drinking a Coke? Or maybe outdoor concerts in the summer or backyard BBQs? Coca-Cola has made their brand associated with togetherness, hence “share a Coke”.
Knowing what your brand currently is associated with and what you would like it to be associated with is key to a successful branding strategy.
Flexibility
Perhaps one of the most crucial elements to building your brand is flexibility. This means that your brand needs to be able to adapt in order to stay relevant in the marketplace.
For instance, if you are a personal training company, it’s important to brand yourself in a way that allows you to pivot in different directions.
If you always offered in-person training but now want to move into the online fitness space, you need a brand that can easily move with you without causing “brand confusion”.
Values
Establishing and displaying your brand’s values in the content you create allows your brand to resonate with your target audience.
These values establish your company’s core principles and serve as a basis for keeping all of your content uniform. Brand values are a company’s guide to its culture and community.
Creating a solid brand culture allows you to connect with your customers and creates a strong relationship. Brand values often result in customer loyalty, especially when you communicate these values heavily to a target audience with which they resonate.
Points of Difference
Knowing what differentiates you from your competitors is critical to standing out in the minds of consumers and an important aspect of building your brand.
Identifying what separates you from competitors and heavily marketing these “points of difference” can help your business have a strong brand image.
Take a landscaping company, for example. If other landscapers in the area charge their customer’s service and transportation fees, and you don’t, this is a great marketing opportunity.
This point of difference is more cost-effective for customers, can enhance your brand image, and shows that you care for them.
Positioning
Identifying where you’ll market your brand in order to meet your target audience where they already are is essentially what “positioning” is.
Being at the right spot at the right time is crucial for any small business. Putting your online ads on the right platform or sending emails to the right audience are just a few examples of positioning.
Advertising your brand, products, or services in the right place is crucial for reaching the right target audience.
Personality
Your brand needs to have a personality! You may be asking: Like a person? And the answer is yes!
Giving your brand a “personality” is a great way to establish how your brand is marketed and also to identify your target audience.
The best way to do this is to ask: “What traits would my company have if they were a person?”
For example, maybe the brand personality of a hardware brand is rugged, easygoing, and isn’t someone that’s too flashy or modern.
Evaluating your brand in this way allows you to identify certain traits your target audience has, and then you can build your brand around those traits.
Style
It’s essential that you, as a business owner, establish your brand’s style. Creating a band style guide, sometimes also known as a brand identity sheet, gives you and your employees a resource to reference for all forms of company content.
A brand style guide is a reference tool that helps a brand maintain consistency in its appearance and sound. It includes company logos, colors, fonts, and even tone/personality.
You can view this as a rulebook that displays how your company should be presented to the world through its branding.
This guide applies to both print and digital company content. A style guide will strengthen your brand and create a memorable image that your customers will recognize.
Establishing a style for your company is a great place to start when considering how to build your brand.
Build Your Brand: A Checklist
Have Your Branding Elements On Hand
Always have your logos and brand identity sheet ready. A brand identity sheet lists the logos, fonts, and colors your brand will use across all platforms. These resources make it easier for you to keep all of your elements consistent. Other helpful elements are email templates or mailing templates.
Pick Your Taglines And Tone
Establish how your brand and content will sound. This also ties into your tagline, which should be cohesive with your brand’s tone. For example, is your brand intuitive or casual? Are you an expert, or will you use basic terminology? These questions can help you establish a tone for your brand. It’s essential to maintain the same tone throughout your copy, from your website to your social media!
Do Competitor Research
In-depth research benefits your marketing strategy and brand building. Finding areas that make your business stand out from competitors can be a large part of your brand and the content you market. This information is also helpful for advertising your brand. Knowing where your competitors advertise is crucial because you must also be there.
Create Your Brand Story
A story that resonates with customers can strengthen your brand image! Being vulnerable, explaining why you started your business, or discussing your journeys often can resonate with customers and create a strong relationship!
Integrate Your Brand Into Your Business
Once you’ve established your brand’s foundation, it’s time to integrate it cohesively throughout your company. Create a style guide or brand identity sheet to create a unified voice and presence across all channels. Adobe says your brand’s personality should be evident in every social media post, marketing campaign, and website design.
Don’t Be Afraid To Rebrand
If you’re reading this as a small business owner who’s been in business for years, you may be reading this checklist and realize that your brand isn’t where you want it to be. While rebranding may seem overwhelming, it’s worth it in the long run. Take it slow and asses what you want your new brand image to be. Hire a freelancer if you have a smaller budget, or consult a digital marketing agency!
Network
Networking is a valuable way to gain connections for your brand. Hosting or attending a local small business marketing event is a great way to get your brand out there. Networking is an excellent tool for increasing brand awareness. While it’s not the easiest method, it’s a fantastic investment for your business in the long run.
Remember The 3 C’s Of Branding
clarity, consistency, and constancy. AIPCA provides great insight into these principles. Be clear about who you are and are not. Don’t sugarcoat your qualifications. Express your brand across all communications mediums. Determine where you want to fit in (industry and niche area of expertise) and then remain visible to your target audience.
Accept Feedback From Those Around You:
Employees, business partners, or other business owners can give you valuable insight. Every business owner should practice the habit of always accepting feedback and implementing it. It’s also helpful to ask those around you how they see your brand, what comes to mind when they think of it, and what areas they think you can improve upon. Today, branding your small business isn’t enough. Your customers want to hear what you say as a business owner and advocate for the company.
Make Your Mission Clear
Identify your company’s mission and ensure that you take measures to achieve these goals through all of your small business endeavors. Communicate your brand’s mission, so your employees and customers have a firm idea of your company’s values. Your mission establishes a goal for yourself and a promise to your customers. All your decisions should stay true to your brand’s values and mission. Communicating your small business’s mission is a critical part in building a brand.
Rebranding Tips:
Rebranding can feel incredibly overwhelming, especially if you’ve previously invested a significant amount of time into your original branding.
Building a brand requires a lot of thought and attention to detail. While building a brand more than once may seem exhausting, you’ll be glad you did.
Or you rushed your branding and created as minimal branding as possible because you were too busy with your business.
Whatever the case, if you’re considering rebranding, that’s a sign that you probably need to.
Here are some helpful tips to help you navigate the rebranding process.
Gather Inspiration
Gathering inspiration is helpful when you begin the rebranding process so you have a clear image of what you want.
This can be as simple as browsing Pinterest or browsing online to see how other brands in your industry are branding their business.
Consult a Digital Marketing Agency or a Freelancer
If branding is not your forte, it’s a great idea to turn to a professional. Many digital marketing agencies and freelancers offer free consultations and can discuss branding ideas or give you proposals for your brand.
This option is not the most budget-friendly, yet if you have an established business and the budget for it, the professional route is a great option!
DIY It
If you want to have creative control, have branding experience, or have paid for design programs like Canva Premium or Adobe Creative Cloud software, gathering inspiration and testing out different logo ideas is an excellent place to start.
Even if you want to hire a professional, sketching out logo ideas or using the accessible version of Canva will help you show a designer the type of visuals you’re looking for.
Creating an inspiration board with pictures, colors, and other logo examples is another helpful option.
Even if you don’t have much design experience, you can still take creative control. Have a list of elements you want to be a part of your brand’s style guide, or include logo examples and colors you want to include.
Use AI cautiously for branding. These programs can be helpful for getting tagline ideas or business names but not for logo design. Overall, AI is useful for inspiration and for performing certain props, but it should not be relied upon by a small business owner for anything.
Ensure a Clean Sweep
One of the trickiest parts of rebranding is clearing your social media and website of previous branding elements.
One of the easiest ways to rebrand is to start with a fresh slate. Building a new site around your new branding will give your business a fresh new look and create cohesiveness.
Remember to replace old branding assets that are easy to forget, such as email templates, mailing templates, or social media content.
Don’t Rush The Process
It’s easy to get anxious and want to rebrand your small business as quickly as possible. But remember, you’re likely rebranding to enhance the quality of your company’s content.
Take your rebrand slow and give yourself enough time to do it right. Communicate to your customers that you’re rebranding and your site is temporarily under construction.
Be sure to give your customers a place to contact you in the meantime!
Build A Brand With Long-Term Goals In Mind
Adapt When Necessary & Be Cautious of Trends
Perhaps some of the most successful companies have remained on top because they’re always ready to adapt.
Your customer’s needs and tastes will change over time. Be ready and willing to adapt to changing industry climates.
This may include rebranding throughout the years or modifying an aspect of your brand’s style guide. Just remember: whatever changes you make, keep your content consistent.
With this in mind, this doesn’t mean that your business should change with every trend.
When your branding or website is outdated, it’s time to change.
When you’re tempted to switch brand colors to appeal to a trend, ask yourself if this is necessary to meet your business goals.
Often, appealing to trends is unnecessary, harming your brand and confusing customers. This is the last thing you want after working hard to create a strong and clear brand image.
Treat Your Customers as Valuable Assets
Focus on serving your customers rather than on how they can serve you.
Customers notice when a business values them. There are many ways to achieve this; choose one that makes the most sense and is financially wise for your small business.
These options include offering occasional discounts, sending personalized emails, or hosting customer appreciation events!
Keep your customers in your conversations! Ask for their input. Send follow-up emails asking for their feedback or post questionnaires and polls on your social media with occasional industry questions.
These gestures communicate to customers that you care about their experience and opinions.
Invest in Long Term Relationships
Let creating customer and business relationships be at the forefront of everything your small business does.
Creating business relationships is one of the best ways to develop long-term relationships to help you keep your doors open during tough times.
Creating a community around your small business takes time, but it’s worth waiting. Reach out to other companies in the area or host networking events.
Go the extra mile to not only help your business, but to assist other small businesses around you.
Stay Within Your Means
Budgeting is a big part of branding.
Take the time to budget or meet with a financial advisor and plan.
It costs to compete, and it can be tempting to run more Google Ads or spend more on marketing when your business is lacking.
But keeping your doors open is more important than gambling your revenue on ad spending.
Today, there are many affordable ways to organically gain more customers and reach a wider audience. These include consistently creating social media content, attending networking events, collaborating with influencers or bloggers, and the list goes on and on!
In this highly digital age, technology is your friend and can help you build your brand! To compete and remain relevant, make sure your company is present on every social media platform and third-party website.
Offer Valuable Resources
Sending your customers freebies and publishing helpful blogs regularly is a great way to increase website traffic and customers.
Freebies include industry guides or weekly newsletters sent to your customer’s emails.
Writing relevant blogs is a great way to appear on a search query and helps your business stand out.
Another way to achieve this is through social media. Include helpful links in your stories or answer industry-relevant questions through videos.
Be Accessible
Your business must be present on various social media platforms and third-party websites.
The more places that your customers can find you, the better.
Even getting featured on a blog is a great way to gain exposure. Be creative and prioritize putting your business at the center of where your customers are looking for your services.
Remember to claim your business on Google and register your company on third-party review sites like Yelp to gain more reviews and authority.
Believe in Your Brand
As a small business owner, you must believe in your business!
Remember why you started it in the first place. Owning a small business gets challenging, but be encouraged! You’ve made it to where you are today, and your company has unlimited growth potential.
You need to be more confident in your products or services to expect your customers to be. Having a solid brand that you’re proud of is crucial.
Keep yourself encouraged! Being a small business owner allows you to be creative and have a career you’re passionate about. Use your passions to fuel your small business and invest in your brand image!
Branding is one of the most significant factors in your company’s brand image. It serves as a visual reminder of your business’s values for your customers.
When you think of some of your favorite brands or businesses, you think of their logo!
Your business’s branding also serves as a visual means for customers to identify your business. When they search online for your business, they look for your logo to click on!
Branding elements guide customers to your services and help them to know it’s you that they’re contacting or purchasing from.
Branding plays a big role in how your customers view your business. Invest and reinvest in your brand, and you will reap the rewards!
Ready to Establish Your Brand?
At Succeeding Small, we specialize in helping you design a brand that you and your customers love. This includes helping you decipher your purpose and brand association while ensuring that your brand is flexible in the ever-changing marketplace. Contact us today to learn how we can help you build your small business brand!
