{"id":1176,"date":"2022-12-01T15:42:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-01T23:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/?p=1176"},"modified":"2024-12-04T15:53:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T23:53:44","slug":"the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Brands are powerful \u2013 they allow companies to make lasting impressions on customers and, ultimately, influence purchase decisions. There\u2019s a reason why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gartner.com\/en\/articles\/what-marketing-budgets-look-like-in-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">companies spend 10.9 percent of their revenues<\/a> on marketing, with branding being a large part of it. Focusing on your brand as a small business owner can reap rich rewards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Branding is a nebulous concept, though, not well-understood and ever-evolving. It can be hard to know where to begin and what\u2019s going to net you solid returns. To help you get started and make informed decisions, <a href=\"https:\/\/gordonbenzie.com\/index.html\">GB Marketing &amp; Communications<\/a> offers this quick reference branding guide for small business owners:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is branding?&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/encyclopedia\/branding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Going by a definition from the Entrepreneur<\/a>, 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 \u2013 and by extension, your business.&nbsp; People connect with your business through your brand. It\u2019s how they remember you and, ultimately, why they keep coming back to you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s your advertising material or your employees\u2019 interactions with customers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How branding affects customer experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mention.com\/en\/blog\/branding-customer-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Good branding enhances customer experience<\/a>. When you have a strong brand, customers have peace of mind knowing they\u2019re 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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Types of branding&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Branding isn\u2019t 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\u2019re selling. Other types of branding are services, retail, cultural, geographic, disruptive, offline, online, and innovative, among others. Indeed offers a full list.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Creating a consistent voice&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The consistency of what your brand stands for, including the style and message, can <a href=\"https:\/\/beaconspoint.com\/inbound-marketing-resources\/how-brand-voice-consistency-can-make-or-break-a-brand\/\">make or break your business<\/a>. 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\u2019 perception of you or confuse them. Understand your audience, set your brand guidelines accordingly, and make sure all your initiatives follow said guidelines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Projects you can DIY&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s best to hire the experts. That way, you can have solid branding guidelines from the beginning and build from a firm foundation. <a href=\"https:\/\/gordonbenzie.com\/services.html\">GB Marketing &amp; Communications<\/a> can assist you with branding and brand awareness to boost marketing effectiveness and sales performance. We also offer a host of related branding services.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Engaging your customers on social media to raise brand awareness&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the most effective and affordable DIY ways to increase your brand\u2019s profile is to engage with customers on social media \u2013 through groups, business pages, and run-of-the-mill shareable posts. Memes are a high-impact, easy way to spread your brand\u2019s imagery and message. You can create engaging, funny, relatable, and thought-provoking memes with an online meme maker tool. After you\u2019ve chosen a template, you can customize it further by adding your own background and changing the text\u2019s appearance. Take a look at this to make your own meme.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How to determine whether your branding is working&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>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.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Going back to school for a business degree&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Marketing and branding are tough fields to master \u2013 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. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.phoenix.edu\/degrees\/business\/bachelors-business-degrees.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Take a look at this<\/a> to choose an online program, so you can run your business while attending school on the side.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u2013 or you can work with professional agencies to create solid campaigns. <strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Image via <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/wG6qTlEBMM8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brands are powerful \u2013 they allow companies to make lasting impressions on customers and, ultimately, influence purchase decisions. There\u2019s 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.&nbsp; Branding is a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":1371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing-communications"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners - Making Every Word Count<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners - Making Every Word Count\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brands are powerful \u2013 they allow companies to make lasting impressions on customers and, ultimately, influence purchase decisions. There\u2019s 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.&nbsp; Branding is a &hellip; Continue reading The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Making Every Word Count\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T23:42:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-04T23:53:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gordonbenzie.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/quick-reference-branding-guide.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"901\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Trent Curry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Trent Curry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Trent Curry\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ca00523c42be7fe58e27904475798f7f\"},\"headline\":\"The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-01T23:42:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-04T23:53:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":843,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/73f83175cad0c07bed5148c9f843650f\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/12\\\/quick-reference-branding-guide.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Marketing Communications\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gordonbenzie.com\\\/blog\\\/the-quick-reference-branding-guide-for-small-business-owners\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Quick Reference Branding Guide for Small Business Owners - 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