6 proven tips when branding for small businesses

Is branding for small businesses feasible or desirable? Yes, it is. Branding will make your business recognizable and put you ahead of your competition.

Branding for small businesses

Branding isn’t just for big businesses with huge budgets to spend on marketing companies. Instead, there are simple ways to brand your business and become a stand out in your particular niche.

Many small businesses are local businesses such as:

• Doctor / dentist / healthcare assistance
• Beauty salon / nail salon
• Auto repair
• Spas / massage
• Restaurants/ cafes
• Bakery / ice cream shop
• Clothing store / jeweler
• Plumber / electrician / painter
• Home goods / gift shop
• Pet store
• Hardware store
• Florist

How does branding help small business?

• Branding makes your business recognizable
• Branding generates leads and customers
• Branding creates trust
• Branding makes your business scalable
• Branding supports marketing efforts

How do I turn my small businesses into a brand?

Before you even open your storefront or design your website, you need to think about your branding. What does that mean? It means that you will utilize the following elements to distinguish your business from your competitors:

• Brand images
• Brand voice
• Brand colors
• Website
• Tagline
• Logo
• Brand fonts
• Storyline

However, before you start brainstorming you must do market research within your community.

How to build a brand identity

Take the following steps to build your business brand identity:

Step 1 to branding small businesses – market research

Market research should be your first step. You will want to consider the following:

• The need for your business with the community
• The geographical area your business covers
• The size of your purposed market

Step 2 to branding small businesses – building a buyer persona

Your business isn’t meant to appeal to your tastes but rather to your market. To that end you must create a buyer persona. This is a profile of the client / customer you will be serving. These are the factors you will consider when creating a buyer persona:

• Gender / Sex
• Age
• Location (urban, suburban, rural, national, international, regional etc.)
• Education
• Income
• Job / Career
• Marital / familial status
• Communication preferences
• Goals
• Problems / Challenges
• Why they would, or wouldn’t, buy your service or product

Step 3 to branding local businesses -define your community

Consider the nature of your community. Is it urban, suburban, rural? Is it liberal or conservative? Is it wealthy or middle class? Are the majority of the residents young or older? By defining the character of the community itself, you will gain more insight into buyer personas. More importantly, it will give you an idea as to whether your business will survive within your particular community.

Step 4 to branding your business -research your competitors

Research your competitors. It is important to know who your competitors are for several reasons:

• You will want to know what they are doing right
• You will want to know what their weaknesses are
• You will want to pivot to improve your service and website

How to do research:

• Talk to people and get their feedback about your competitors
• Read online reviews
• Use their services to get a feel for how they function

Your goal is to outdo them and provide a better experience for the client.

Elements of branding your business

Whether your business is online or local, the most important element is to create your buyer persona, then you can design elements around that persona/ personas that will appeal to your targeted demographics.

• Your value proposition – what are you doing better than your competitors? Do you offer better pricing, better service, or a better product
• Your brand position – a statement that defines your position in the market and your brand personality
• Brand identity – google for a list a adjectives to help you choose your identity. For example, green and eco, reliable and dependable, exclusive and luxurious
• Your brand voice – this is the voice you will speak to your customers in. Are you speaking to women or men, young or old, sophisticated or unpretentious, a utilitarian or a luxury market?

Your most important asset is your website

Aside from your store, your most important asset is your website. It is even more important to have a great website if you have an online business. When looking for a product or service, Google is the first place people will go. You will want to be found easily so that people can learn about your business and buy your services or products. You will want to have an up to date website that is:

• Responsive – looks and functions well across all devices
• Pages that load quickly
• SEO optimized so that you can be easily found
• Features calls to action – tell your customers what you want them to do, for example: contact, book, call, sign up etc.
• Is easy to navigate

How to be found online

You will need to create your Google business profile. That way you can easily be found in your community or online when someone Googles your niche or product.

What else does your website need to include?

You will want to engage people, so attractive, informative pages that speak to them and solve their problems are a must. What else do your website need to include?

• Your contact information
• Hours of business
• Map
• A blog section – having a blog is critically important for your SEO. Search engine optimization is necessary to boost your rankings and get you to the top of organic searches. To learn how to blog properly, please read Learn how to blog like a pro

Just as importantly, you will be designing your website for your targeted demographic.

Designing a website for your targeted audience

Did you know that 60-90% of judgments are made on color alone? Did you also know that there are generational color preferences or that men and women have preferred colors? When designing your website, refer to your buyer persona to choose your colors. Additionally, your images and fonts are just as important as your color choices.

• To learn how to choose the right colors to appeal to your targeted audience, read How to choose the best palette for your website
• To learn how to choose the best fonts to appeal to your targeted audience, read How to chose the best fonts for your website
• To learn how to choose the best images to appeal to your targeted audience, read How to choose the best brand images for your website

FAQs

Summary

There are multiple steps you will need to take when branding your small business. Start with:

• Market research
• Defining the characteristics of your community, if you have a local business
• Creating a buyer persona
• Defining your value proposition
• Creating your brand identity
• Designing your store, website, and / or product to appeal to your ideal buyer. That will include choosing the colors, fonts, images that are targeted to appeal to them specifically
• Choosing your brand voice
• Telling your story
• Creating a memorable tagline

If you need help with branding your business or creating your branded website, please contact Lily Temmer.