Brand Development For Small Businesses
Branding is quite essential when it comes to running a successful business. It is what the majority of your customers will associate your company with. It will come with particular positives and negatives and can create trust with potential customers.
But what does it take to bring your brand to the next level? We can first define brand development as "the strategic process of creating and distinguishing your company's image, products, and services from your competitors." When it comes to small businesses, the first time a customer comes into contact with your business can be the decision-maker about how the customer feels about your business. A strong brand image is a great way to get started.
Brand Objectives
Now there are a few basic phrases that you can apply to your business venture. The first thing is to align brand strategy with your brand objectives. To be more detailed, you must want to take your brand and plan aligned with those goals. A great way to determine what you want your business' brand objectives to be is to list out the purposes of where you want to take your business. To create a clear goal, you need to have a good insight on topics such as your target market and the kind of engagement you receive with them. This topic ties into our next tip, and that is how to create the infrastructure around a trustworthy brand.
Keep in mind the key to finding your brand objectives is essentially what you are trying to tell your customers about your business. Some questions you can ask yourself are.
- What is your story?
- Who is your ideal customer?
- What other brands do you align yourself with?
- What are the core values that you want your brand to express?
Tools for your brand
A great brand image is excellent, but without the tools to deliver your brand or product to customers can be harmful to your business. A few necessary tools that you can implement into your brands are:
- Website design and system
- Social media management
- Logo design
These are all critical factors that will take time to develop as they will play an essential role in the image you portray to your customers. Creating a website that is in touch with your overall theme is vital. In this stage, you are trying to relay your customers' message about what kind of business you are and the brand you are. One of the first things that customers hearing about your business will see is your website. That is why it's crucial to have a website that helps support the logos and taglines that represent your brand and optimize it so that it can be used seamlessly on mobile devices as a significant portion of your customers will visit you through their mobile devices as well. A website is a great way to boost your business into the digital space.
Next is social media management, having a plan to create an identity on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Many of your customers will find your profile on these social media platforms, and you can use this strategy to convert customers into your business.
Another critical tool is creating a logo design, representing your business well and can be used uniformly through all your business operations. These are just some characteristics to keep in mind when creating your logo:
- Simplicity
- Relevance
- Memorable
- Timeless
- Versatile
It is important to remember that a logo is not the end all be all of your business; it is not representative of your business' success or identity. It is part of your identity but not its entirety.
With these tools, you can measure and analyze the data you receive, whether it be about how much traffic you are receiving on your website or advertising online. You can utilize data better when you have the correct tools in place for that.
Brand Relevance
Lastly is brand relevance. A brand that is consistent with trends continues to grow with an ever-changing customer base. Some tips to keep your brand relevant are talking with your customers regularly. Your customers are your number one priority for everything; they are also an excellent resource for advice and feedback on how you continue your business. They can act as a different perspective for your business and see how you can change things.
Another great tip is keeping current with the news; for example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of your customers may be feeling the same. It is your job to keep up to date on how current events affect your customers and the world around you. This is important as it keeps you prepared to assume that the majority of your customers are up to date to the most current news.
It may seem easy at first glance but addressing branding should be continuous throughout the year. Whether it be making adjustments or addressing new scenarios, adapting is essential to creating a strong brand image. Small businesses worldwide, primarily through the hardship they have all experienced the past months, putting their business on the map through digital platforms could significantly benefit them. Most companies will have to adapt to these changes and find new ways to promote their business that may be completely different from traditional methods. If you have any questions on how you can increase your business through digital means, do not hesitate to reach out to StratDev, where we can address your issues and help you take the best route to utilize digital marketing for your business.
