How to Develop Your Brand as a Small Business
Branding and establishing your brand identity is vital to succeed as a small business. As you grow and start to rise in your industry, it’s essential to stay true to your personality and to differentiate yourself from competitors. As a small business, let’s look at how you can build your brand to set yourself apart.
What Goes Into a Brand
Branding is a lot more than the design element of your company. Go beyond your business name, logo, and colors, which you’ve already established. Your brand is how your customers will perceive your company. Developing your internal and external brand and maintaining consistency throughout these elements is crucial. It’s essential to ask your company questions throughout the process to identify what message you want your customers to view from your brand. Here are a few examples of the questions you should be asking:
What is your company culture and values?
This question helps identify what values you want your consumers to identify with. Do you prioritize innovation, inclusion, or community, or do you want to value relationships, people, and diversity? Make sure to establish these values to share them with your audience. If you have already established these, reflect and ensure you stay true to who you are and what you believe in.
How do you differ from the competition?
Make sure to incorporate your unique selling proposition into your marketing materials. Communicate what makes you better than your competitors and establish yourself as a contender in the marketplace. Stay current with new trends in your industry and be a leader in your space.
Who are your customers, and what are their expectations?
Identify your target audience and understand what they’re looking for from your company. Market to their needs and make your company a necessity for them.
Are you creating brand assets that reflect your personality?
Creating your brand assets plays a considerable role in how your customers perceive you. Your brand colors, logo, font choices, designs, and more all convey a brand message and identity that will be with your company for years. Choose colors that identify with your brand message. If you want to be seen as friendly, go for a yellow hue; if you want to be perceived as calm, choose a blue color. Whatever colors and designs you choose, be sure they stay consistent throughout all marketing materials. Here are crucial elements in your brand assets and how to communicate them to your customers.
Are you maintaining brand consistency?
Use the same fonts, designs, colors, and themes throughout all materials to give your customers a concrete brand identity.
How are you communicating changes?
If you want to change elements of your brand assets, communicate that to your customers. Make a campaign launch or a special event to let your customers know that you are going through a rebrand.
Evolution vs. revolution?
Brands are constantly changing and growing. Don’t have immediate and impulse reactions to mass events. Take these changes in your stride, and allow your company to grow in your industry.
Being a small business during this time is both exciting and challenging. Creating a solid brand identity is vital to stand out in this ever-changing business world. If you need help creating a brand that will resonate with your customers, take a look at our brand guide document and reach out to us and see how we can take your brand to the next level.
