Brands are powerful – they allow companies to make lasting impressions on customers and, ultimately, influence purchase decisions. There’s a reason why companies spend 10.9 percent of their revenues on marketing, with branding being a large part of it. Focusing on your brand as a small business owner can reap rich rewards.
Branding is a nebulous concept, though, not well-understood and ever-evolving. It can be hard to know where to begin and what’s going to net you solid returns. To help you get started and make informed decisions, GB Marketing & Communications offers this quick reference branding guide for small business owners:
What is branding?
Going by a definition from the Entrepreneur, branding is who you are, who you want to be, and who people perceive you to be. Think of your brand as the face of your product or service – and by extension, your business. People connect with your business through your brand. It’s how they remember you and, ultimately, why they keep coming back to you.
A brand has tangible components (think logo and slogan) and intangible ones (like personality and values). You communicate your brand through every customer touch point, whether it’s your advertising material or your employees’ interactions with customers.
How branding affects customer experience
Good branding enhances customer experience. When you have a strong brand, customers have peace of mind knowing they’re dealing with a capable and professional company offering a quality product or service. It, ultimately, makes them happier and more loyal. With customer-centric branding and a solid message, you can also enhance their journey and connect with them on an emotional level.
Types of branding
Branding isn’t a generic, one-size-fits-all solution. You can customize your branding to best fit your business or current initiative. For instance, you could center your business around you (your personality and achievements) through personal branding or, instead, go for the more typical product or service branding, which revolves around what you’re selling. Other types of branding are services, retail, cultural, geographic, disruptive, offline, online, and innovative, among others. Indeed offers a full list.
Creating a consistent voice
The consistency of what your brand stands for, including the style and message, can make or break your business. Ideally, your brand messaging, design, and identity should revolve around the same core values and vision. Even minor shifts can disrupt or break your customers’ perception of you or confuse them. Understand your audience, set your brand guidelines accordingly, and make sure all your initiatives follow said guidelines.
Projects you can DIY
To save money, many business owners prefer to Do It Yourself (DIY) some branding elements. Some examples are market research, creating brand assets, analytics, brand naming, identity design, packaging, and copywriting. Needless to say, sometimes it’s best to hire the experts. That way, you can have solid branding guidelines from the beginning and build from a firm foundation. GB Marketing & Communications can assist you with branding and brand awareness to boost marketing effectiveness and sales performance. We also offer a host of related branding services.
Engaging your customers on social media to raise brand awareness
One of the most effective and affordable DIY ways to increase your brand’s profile is to engage with customers on social media – through groups, business pages, and run-of-the-mill shareable posts. Memes are a high-impact, easy way to spread your brand’s imagery and message. You can create engaging, funny, relatable, and thought-provoking memes with an online meme maker tool. After you’ve chosen a template, you can customize it further by adding your own background and changing the text’s appearance. Take a look at this to make your own meme.
How to determine whether your branding is working
Your marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) also point to the efficacy of your branding. Essentially, if people are talking about you, buying more products or services, and recommending your offerings, then your brand is working. You should consistently measure your performance and make improvements to get better.
Going back to school for a business degree
Marketing and branding are tough fields to master – but mastering them is more than worthwhile. Good marketing almost guarantees a successful business. You can go back to school for a business degree to sharpen your business and marketing skills. Whether you pick accounting, business, communications, management, or something else, you can learn skills to raise your profile and be successful. Take a look at this to choose an online program, so you can run your business while attending school on the side.
Conclusion
Good branding can make you more recognizable, relatable, and likable. You should include solid branding with all your marketing material for the best results. Going back to school can help you pick up essential marketing and branding skills – or you can work with professional agencies to create solid campaigns.
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