The branding process begins from the moment that an individual comes up with a startup idea. Then, the strategies involved in this process will both build and nourish business growth. Branding as an idea revolves around maintaining effective communication with customers in the long run. However, many small business owners are aware of branding and what it entails but aren’t exactly aware of just how their branding influences business and marketing strategies. It’s not just large, corporate companies that can preserve their marketing edge with branding – small businesses can do the same, and here’s how.
#1. Understanding the Scope:
First of all, it’s important to be aware of just exactly what branding entails for your business. Branding is so much more than simply your company logo or the colours that you use on your website and advertising materials – it is the personification and consistency of your business and how it appears to the outside world. Once you understand the scope of branding for your business and exactly how it impacts everything that you do as a company, it’s easier to play it like a larger brand.
#2. Get a Professional:
Doing your own branding can be tempting with plenty of tools out there that allow you to build your own company logo, create your own website, and more – but is it worth the risk if you’re not sure how much exactly you will need to do? Corporate brands don’t DIY logos and websites; they have professionals dedicated to doing it for them – which is why they’re able to come up with and maintain solid, memorable and trustworthy brands. And the good news is that thanks to sites like Fiverr you can find professionals who can do all your branding work for you at a reasonable price, with great results.
#3. Stay Consistent:
When coming up with your company’s brand and your brand voice, consistency is key. You’d never see a large corporate company displaying their logo differently on one social media platform or using colours that they’ve never used before for brochures; it just doesn’t happen. Along with being consistent visually, it’s also important to be consistent when it comes to your brand’s voice – the language that you use for blog posts, website content, advertisements, emails, and more should be the same throughout. Consistency is key for marketing as it eliminates confusion for your customers and makes it easier for them to relate to your brand. Cenareo’s signage solutions makes it easier than ever to maintain consistency allowing you to create, schedule and disseminate all of your messages on all of your screens.
#4. Build a Strong Social Media Presence:
One thing that you’ll always see from corporate brands is a strong social media presence. There is never a day when nothing is posted across their social media profiles, whether it’s a short marketing video, a poll to engage with customers, a meme or image, or a link to a blog post. Building a strong social media presence is key for strong branding; it puts you out there in front of customers and allows you to establish and maintain strong communication channels with them.
#5. Look Polished Offline:
Finally, don’t restrict your strong branding strategies to online only. If you have an office or a physical shop, stretching to here is just as important. Make sure that it’s easy to see that it’s your premises from the outside with signage, and if you have customer-facing employees, a uniform or dress code with branded badges can help to maintain consistency across both online and offline channels.
When it comes to branding, small businesses can do just as well as large corporate companies with the right strategies.