As a small business, effective branding is integral to attracting leads and customers. It's often more critical for small businesses because they're just starting, without the many resources and platforms available to large, established brands. When branding a small business, there are specific ways to approach your strategy to ensure success and help your brand reach its full potential.
If you want to know more about building a brand for your business, here are some steps to take as you move forward.
1. Stay Consistent with Your Efforts
One of the most important aspects of a successful brand is consistency, which all your audiences want to see. The consistent presentation has been shown to boost revenue by as much as 33%. One of the reasons for this is that consistency builds trust among audiences, which is crucial as 81% of consumers need to trust a brand to purchase from them.
Consistency entails keeping all visual elements, messaging, and values aligned across all platforms and ads, including offline and digital marketing. A consistent brand will lead people to recognize you more efficiently, as you develop a unique brand identity that's distinctly yours. As a result, they'll likely come to trust you and turn to you when looking for your products or services.
2. Be Personable in Your Approach
It's also essential for your branding to be personable. If your brand feels too much like a foreign entity merely trying to profit from its customers, this can deter people as you neglect to give your brand a human face. Use ads and other marketing materials that add a touch of reliability. Empathize with audiences and show that you understand the pain points that you want to help resolve. Use ads that connect with audiences personally and show that your brand has clear values.
The more personable your brand is, the more people will come to trust it over competitors.
3. Multi-Platform Presence
Having your brand appear on multiple platforms can maximize visibility among target audiences. It also can increase both trust and credibility as people see your brand while consuming their favorite media. Take advantage of as many platforms as you can, from TV advertising and digital ads to magazine and radio ads. If your brand develops a sense of ubiquity, you'll increase recognition and make sure that you stay top-of-mind among target audiences. In the process, you'll also provide plenty of touchpoints for people to connect with you when they're ready to make a buying decision.
4. Creativity is Key
Part of what makes so many brands appealing to target audiences is their creativity in their marketing. Think outside the box and innovate to develop fresh marketing ideas that help your brand stand out. You can empathize with audiences through compelling storytelling that illustrates your audience's struggles while establishing your business as the solution.
Develop unique visuals and designs that improve recognition and resonate emotionally with audiences, whether you use a sentiment, humor, or other emotions to build that connection.
5. Remain Engaged with Your Audience
Profitable brands are also responsive and maintain a consistent connection with audiences. You can use social media and email marketing channels to stay in touch with audiences, whether you share frequent posts and ask people for their opinion on your Facebook page or send product recommendations via email. There are many ways to attract new leads and hold their attention, so they don't forget you. Staying in touch with past customers can also keep them returning for additional purchases and repeat business.
6. Use Video to Connect Your Brand to Consumers
Video is one of the best types of content to use to connect with audiences. Unlike other content types, you can use an audiovisual presentation to evoke emotions and grab your audience's attention with a unique experience. From video ads on social media to TV commercials with high production values, there are many ways to go about using video in your branding efforts.
7. Understand Your Audience and Their Needs
To make sure your branding is consistently compelling, you need to have a good understanding of your audience and what they're looking for. Perform audience research and find out what specific issues your audiences are experiencing. Also, find out what solutions they're looking for, including solutions that you may be able to offer and that competitors are neglecting to provide.
Keep in mind that authenticity is a significant factor in succeeding among audiences today: 86% of consumers stated that authenticity is a top deciding factor when choosing which brands to support. If your brand and offerings feel authentic, this will go a long way in building a strong connection with audiences.
8. Keep Your Target Demographic in Mind When Creating Content
You should know which specific audiences to target, which will help inform the direction of your content. For instance, advertising for new parents in the suburbs will look considerably different from college students' ads in big cities. You should also consider how you may market to specific generations looking for different things from their favorite brands. Visuals, messaging, offers and the platforms on which you advertise will all depend on demographics.
Work with a Media Partner to Develop Your Next Branding Strategy
Taking all of these aspects into consideration can help you when branding a small business. With good insight into your audience and their needs, immense creativity, consistency, and a multi-platform strategy, you can increase brand awareness, recognition, and trust. If you need some help with getting started, a media partner can provide guidance and move you in the right direction.
