Running a Small Business? Here’s 5 Ways to Develop an Identity through Small Business Branding

If you're a small business owner
and you're shrugging off the idea of brain identity, then consider this a stop sign.
Having a brand identity is not
the exclusive prerogative of big worldfamous companies like Nike and Apple.
In fact, small businesses just like yours
should craft a successful brand identity precisely as it will allow you to compete
effectively with larger businesses and industry players.
Whatever business you operate
in and regardless of the budget you have available, building an effective branding
strategy should be one of your main priorities.
If it isn't there, then add it to the top of your everyday to do list.
Hey guys, it's Jordy here
from neighbourhood where we help brands buy and sell and keep their people.
The goal of marketing is to connect
the value of your business to your customer base.
It is a simple concept, but it can take on many different shades.
Want to know the good news?
It's much less complicated and pricey than you think.
So how do you craft a unique,
memorable and winning brand identity for your small business?
To be honest, I have no clue what will work for you because I don't know your
business and I don't know your customers, but luckily you do.
So with that in mind,
let's uncover our top five foolproof branding ideas you can utilise to up your
brand awareness game and promote growth in your business.
First up, define yourself and your audience.
It may sound a bit philosophical, but the first step towards the creation
of an authentic brand identity is asking yourself questions like who am I?
What values do I embrace?
What is my purpose and what difference will I bring to my industry?
If you want to throw in the outline of a plan, then go for it.
Think about where you would like to be in the next year, five years,
ten years and consider how you might be able to get there.
Once you've done enough self reflection, it's time to look outwards and examine two
essential aspects that will go on to determine other parts of your brand
identity, your industry and your customer activity.
You want to start by checking out
the marketplace you'll be playing in to identify your main direct
competitors as well as the biggest challenges and opportunities.
Of course, you'll want and need to offer
a completely original and different brand to your audience, but that's precisely why
you need to watch what your rivals are doing.
Can you notice any trends or patterns?
Are they particularly active on social media sites?
What they use video to promote themselves and their products?
How about email marketing?
Try to figure out the lowdown in your sector right now, as this will help you
to steer your brand identity creation efforts in the right direction.
The last aspect that you want to consider is your potential customers.
Now that you know who you are, what you want to communicate and how you
want to do it, you need to establish who you want to address.
At this stage, it's not strictly necessary
to develop a super detailed by persona, though we're definitely not against it.
You simply need to ask yourself who might be interested in your products or
services, and then gradually build on that.
Roughly how old are your ideal customers?
Are they mostly men or women or a mix of both?
What is their socioeconomic background?
Keep asking yourself as many questions as
you think will help you to better define your target customers and use your
findings to enable your brand identity to develop a connection with consumers.
Second, is there to be unique with your visuals?
The second step towards the creation
of your brand identity is to establish and strengthen its visibility.
And what better than using powerful, unique visuals to achieve this?
This is one of the most creative,
yet sometimes also challenging stages of your brain identity creation.
There's no shame in realising you can't go it alone, so feel free to reach out
to a specialised agency for creative directions.
There are some visual representation elements that your brain will always need
and others that are not always required, but can help to reinforce your identity.
The essential ones are a brand logo,
branding guidelines or style guide and a website.
Some of the extra ones include social media platforms,
videos with relevant content and business cards with company branding.
But let's take a look at the must haves.
Let's start with your brand logo.
This needs to capture a series of elements that define your brand and it needs to do
so in a way that's original, persuasive and recognisable.
You need a logo that nobody else has used before that communicates what your brand
stands for and that people can memorise easily and recognise whenever they see it.
Coming up with a logo that ticks all the right boxes can be challenging,
but once you've nailed that, you'll realise how all the other visual
assets will flow out pretty naturally with brilliant branding.
In fact, you use your logo for pretty much
everything visual, starting with your brand guidelines.
This is a super important document
that captures the entire essence of your brand using both words and images.
Brand guidelines will feature elements such as your brand character,
fonts and your colour scheme of choice, as well as more specific design rules
on how your brand should and shouldn't be represented publicly.
Last but not least, the third fundamental
element of your visual brand identity is your website.
This should act as the window of a shop, put only your best items on display
and entice your audience to come in to discover more about you.
The website should be informative, convincing and interesting,
and it should also match the design style and rules that you've established in your
brand guidelines, while always prominently featuring your logo.
Third is to craft awesome and compelling content.
Bill Gates titled his 996 essay Content Is King,
which included the following statement, Content is where I expect much of the real
money will be made on the internet, just as it was in broadcasting.
Since then, the expression has gained
enormous popularity, especially in the world of digital
marketing and it continues to describe a very wellknown fact.
Content marketing is the key to success.
So as a small business owner, what exactly can you do to create amazing
content that is effective and doesn't break the bank?
Well, lucky for you, there are several ways in which you can achieve this.
The first thing you should do is carry out some online research into what exactly
your customers might be asking and looking for when they go online.
What about the format?
How much should you write and where should you post the final content?
One of the most advantageous features
of content marketing is incredible versatility.
Meaning what you are now writing as a blog post can easily, quickly and affordably be
repurposed for social media posts, a landing page, a video and infographics.
Simply adjust the length the tone of voice and cut down anything that won't fit
with the specific channel that you are posting to and you're good to go.
By doing this regularly,
you will quickly establish yourself as an expert in your specific field.
Content marketing is super useful
to reinforce your brand visibility, credibility and reputation.
It also helps you to find out and develop your unique brand voice.
All these in turn are fundamental features of a successful brand identity.
Coming in at number four is offer your customers something invaluable.
For your brand to be as unique as you want it to, it needs to promote that unmissable
quality that makes consumers go, wow, I need this product in my life right now.
In marketing terms,
what you need to establish at this stage is the so called point of difference.
Think about this.
However great and potentially innovative your products are, there's a very strong
chance that you are not the only company in your industry that offers them.
So what is it that should convince people
to look at your products or services with enough conviction and create an urge
that drives them towards the final purchase?
Before you go to market, you need to think about this carefully.
Let's take, for example, the beauty and skincare products industry.
You know all too well that there are countless other businesses out there
that offer great skincare products and solutions, but what makes you the best?
Is it maybe the fact that you're committed
to only using organic and ethically sourced ingredients, or that you keep your
prices very low without ever sacrificing quality?
Or perhaps you're putting a lot of thought
and effort into helping your customers create a bespoke skincare routine.
Whatever you think your point of difference is, once you've identified
it, you need to hold on to it and use it as your basis for your marketing strategy.
It could be so powerful that you might
even want to incorporate into your brand name, like a slogan or a tagline.
If you need some inspiration,
then why not look at what some of the most popular and successful brands have done
to highlight their spiritual point of difference?
Take, for example, Lorelle and their famous tagline because you're worth it.
Simple, impactful, authentic.
If you want to select a beauty or skincare product that truly values you and makes
you feel beautiful and confident, then Lorille is the way to go.
Urban decay, on the other hand,
chose the tagline beauty with an edge, immediately addressing those consumers
who want something bolder and extra from their makeup routine.
There's a bucket of more examples out there, but you get the gist though.
Offering something unique is still not enough for your brand to really work
through the weeds in such a fiercely competitive market.
Brand reputation is a vital aspect
to consider when building and developing a brand, and it is highly dependent on how
your customers view you and how they talk about you amongst themselves and publicly.
Rule of thumb, you want to take the best
possible care of your loyal customers, both online and offline.
Happy customers will only add to your
marketing efforts and your chance of success.
Being able to always provide a positive, engaging, smooth customer experience
across all the touch points of the customer journey is essential,
so you might need to get a little smart with this, such as incorporating
artificial intelligence and affordable tools such as friendly chatbots.
Ensure that your website is fully optimised for mobile.
Make sure the online checkout process is quick, easy and secure.
Remember, the relationship with your ideal
customer doesn't end when you finally close a sale.
In fact, that's the beginning of a greater
and potentially more profitable customer relationship.
So look after your logistics processes
in the most efficient way, making sure that shipping,
deliveries and returns are as hassle free, affordable and sustainable as possible.
Then always ask for customer feedback.
Ask how you did and whether they enjoyed their new product.
Would they recommend it to friends and family?
What do they particularly like about it?
Is it making their lives better or easier?
Engage with them through email marketing,
surveys and feedback requests, and throw in some exciting special deals
that will entice them to keep buying from you.
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Finally, at number five is expand your
network with new opportunities and partnerships.
Another essential aspect that can help you
strengthen your business brand identity is networks and partnerships.
Influencer marketing, for example,
is a super effective way to promote yourself in an easy, cost effective way.
Cheque out microinfluencers who are more accessible and affordable than bigger
celebs, while also boasting a much higher engagement rate.
You can team up with other companies too, as long as they're not direct competitors.
Of course. To use our beauty and skincare example
again, let's say that you're launching a new face wash.
Why not get in touch with local hotels or spas for example,
to find out whether they'd be interested in stocking your products and helping you
to promote them through their website and socials?
This way you'll be able to open up
possible new revenue streams without harming your business.
By getting involved with competitors.
The options to build fruitful partnerships
with both individuals and companies are limitless and they can truly add immense
value to your brand identity awareness and credibility.
So, are you ready to craft your unique winning brand identity?
All businesses, especially smaller ones,
benefit from building a persuasive, original and consistent brand identity.
Small business owners can achieve their perfect brand identity by applying these
easy and affordable five steps from understanding what your brand is
and what it stands for to identifying your target market and all the way to crafting
amazing content and partnering with other prominent brands.
The opportunities offered by a brand identity programme are endless.
If you found this video helpful, feel free to share it with someone you
know who needs a hand with building their brand identity.
You can also subscribe to our blog where
you'll find a bunch more tools, tips and templates to help you find,
sell and keep your people just like neighbourhood does.
So that's it for me. Happy marketing.