Brand your small business the right way, and its logo, name, slogan, and other identifying characteristics will prove indelible. Customers will immediately think of your business as soon as they see colors, an image, font, or anything else similar to your business’s signature visual identity.
The challenge lies in creating such a distinct identity that your audience is likely to remember. Let’s take a look at some helpful tips for business owners and managers looking to brand their small businesses for a lasting impact.
1. Design Your Logo
Opt to design your logo, and the business will look and feel that much more your own. Your logo is an essential component of your small business’s identity and branding. There are several different logo styles, so be sure to consider all options before moving forward with the design you believe is best for your business.
Creating your logo isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Logo design technology is here to help. There are multiple options available that can speed up the logo creation process and ease your efforts (your budget will appreciate it). One of them is a logo maker, which empowers business owners to create fresh new logos for their branding. Today's logo makers are even advanced to the point that they analyze overarching industry trends to pinpoint fonts that are on-point and most likely to impact your target audience.
Other options include logo design contests in which you select the right freelance designer after screening their design efforts, or design marketplaces that you can play around with for cheap and choose multiple logo designs until you’re satisfied.
Design your own logo (or work closely with a designer), and you'll rest easy knowing your logo is uniquely yours. After all, the last thing you need is another business owner challenging the authenticity of your logo and branding.
2. Focus on an Idiosyncrasy
Take a moment to think about what makes your business different from the rest. If your company doesn’t have a unique product or service, consider its marketing materials. Does your company have a unique voice or other idiosyncrasy that can shape its identity? If not, now is the time to develop one.
A business with a personality is a business that resonates with the audience. Create a unique voice, unique value proposition, or both, and your business will stand out from the rest, emerging with a clearly defined identity that reinforces branding efforts all the more. Alternatively, if you were to strictly focus on perfecting your value offering rather than developing a clear personality for the business, it would take longer to earn recognition from potential customers.
The bottom line is form is just as important as function when it comes to small businesses capturing market share. Recognize this fact, invest the time necessary to create marketing materials that present your company with a clear and cogent identity, and the money you spend on marketing will create an impression that has the potential to last a lifetime.
3. Satisfied Customers can Help With Branding
Business owners often overlook the potential of satisfied customers. Encourage your customers to tout the merits of your company in online reviews and on social media. Continue to provide the community with loyalty programs, discounts, and other niceties, and you'll generate that much more goodwill.
Make it feel as though your customers belong to an exclusive club, and they will proactively recognize your business on social media and by word of mouth when socializing with friends, family, co-workers, and others. The positive momentum built by satisfied customers will help shape your company’s identity, help it continue to evolve, and ultimately ensure your business spends less on conventional marketing.
If you feel overwhelmed by managing social media accounts, don’t hesitate to ask for help. A professional social media marketer or even a part-time social media specialist will manage your company’s presence on these powerful platforms while you focus on what you do best.
4. Take a Chance in Your Quest to be Unique
A business that is thought of in a similar light as others is a business that will struggle to succeed. The question is how to separate your business from the pack without spending an egregiously large sum of money on marketing or running the risk of a low return on investment.
Recognize the fact that your product’s quality will only take your business so far, take a risk with marketing, product presentation, or in another area, and your business will establish that much more of a unique identity. In most cases, businesses lean toward an edgy or otherwise attention-grabbing advertisement to create a lasting impression.
However, businesses can also take risks in the context of narrowly targeting a customer base on specific media by modifying a current value offering or adding a completely new product or service. If you are hesitant to move forward with a significant alteration to your product/service or marketing campaign, test it before fully committing to the change. Perform a test run with a limited audience, gauge the response, and move forward accordingly.
5. Get on Social Media
If your business is not yet on social media, sign up for the top platforms as soon as possible. From Facebook to LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and beyond, your business should have a presence on the web’s most frequented social media websites.
Reinforce your brand identity with posts, updates, videos, pictures, and other content that highlights your product/service. Interact with customers on the platforms and promote your latest offerings. Be consistent with your social media updates; your audience will get into a rhythm with your posting cadence.
The ideal outcome of an active social media presence is content that goes viral or catches the attention of an influencer. You will likely need a social media strategist in your corner to accomplish either of these feats. Don’t hesitate to lean on a proven marketer for guidance in the context of social media, and you'll make the most of the platforms.
6. Remain Consistent
Branding a small business is that much easier when you provide the same product or service at the same level of quality every single time without exception. Replicate your value offering for each customer, develop a reputation for consistency, and your branding will be backed by an actual substance that reinforces your message all the more.
When in doubt, test your product for consistency. Randomly visit or make a purchase from your business at various times throughout the day and the week. Check out your company’s ads at random times and analyze them for common themes and inconsistencies.
Present your audience with a consistent message, including consistent branding aesthetics, and they will identify your business quicker and easier. Remain true to your chosen approach, continue to present your audience with the same value offering, and they’ll respect your commitment to providing consistent results.
7. Uniformity in Branding
The entirety of your company’s online footprint should be uniform. Examples of uniformity in branding include:
- Logo
- Font
- Slogan
- Color
Uniformity extends well beyond the visual aspects of branding. The most successful businesses are also consistent in terms of:
- Prices
- Specials
- Discounts
- Other nuanced information
Present a unified image of your business to the public on social media, your website, and other components of your online footprint, and the effort will pay off in the form of customers who are more likely to remain loyal to your business in the years ahead.
Take Your Branding to the Next Level
The bottom line is the quality of your logo has the potential to make or break your business. Opt for a fully customized logo powered by AI, and your business will stand apart from the rest, proving easily recognizable and memorable.
Demonstrate irreverence for convention with your company's logo, and your branding will prove impactful to the point that you notice a meaningful increase in sales.
