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As a small business owner, you may be wondering why building a brand is important. After all, isn’t it enough to simply have a great product or service? The answer is no. In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s more important than ever to have a strong brand that differentiates you from your competitors. In this article, I cover what is a brand, why your business needs one, and 8 benefits of taking the time to invest in building a brand for your business.
But just know a strong, well-branded business will be more recognizable to customers and other businesses, have greater credibility, and generate more loyal customers.
In short, building a brand is the key to success for any small business.
What is a brand, and why do businesses need one?
A brand is more than a logo or a name – it encapsulates everything your business represents and it’s defined by the way consumers perceive it.
Your brand is the total experience your customers have with you. It’s the feeling THEY get when they think of your company or product.
And it’s up to you to create that feeling as best you can – whether you’re selling health coaching packages or home-baked cookies.
In short, a brand is external, has fans, exists only in someone’s mind, is the perception people have about you, and is built by a consumer.
Your brand is what sets you apart from the competition. That’s why every business needs a strong brand for long-lasting success.
From appearance to personality and everything in between, a client evaluates how they feel about you in their mind before they do business with you.
Therefore, extensive competition in the online space creates infinite choices for your consumer. As a solopreneur and small business owner, you must look for ways to connect emotionally with customers, become irreplaceable and build lifelong relationships.
So with that said, a brand is not what YOU say it is – it’s what THEY say it is. A brand is a relationship.
Your brand represents the relationship that you or your business have with your target audience. It’s what your audience thinks that counts!
The benefits of building a strong brand for your small business
As you invest in branding and building your reputation from the inside out with brand marketing there are ways you can influence how these clients perceive you. When done well, your brand becomes unique and consumers will get behind and support your mission.
There are numerous benefits of building a brand for your small business, but here are eight:
1 – Increased recognition
A well-known brand is more likely to be top of mind when potential customers are ready to buy. A strong brand will make your small business more recognizable to potential customers and other businesses. This can help you attract new customers and build better relationships with other businesses.
2 – Greater credibility
A well-established brand gives your small business greater credibility. Customers are more likely to trust a business that has a strong, professional image.
3 – Differentiate your business
In a world where consumers have more choices than ever, building a unique and recognizable brand is essential to stand out from the competition. This increases recognition and credibility only differentiates you more from the competition.
4 – Build customer loyalty
Brand loyalty is important in any business, but it’s especially crucial for small businesses. Customers loyal to your brand are more likely to continue doing business with you, even when other options ares available.
5 – Attract and retain customers
A strong brand can help attract new customers and keep existing ones coming back.
6 – Higher perceived value
A strong brand can command a higher price point because customers believe they are getting a better quality product or service.
7 – Increased customer lifetime value
Brand loyalty leads to repeat business and customers willing to pay a premium for the products or services they know and trust. This spending only increases a customer’s lifetime value with you.
8 – Improved employee morale
Employees who feel proud to work for a particular company are more likely to be engaged and productive.
What you need to know before building a brand for your small business
Before you start building your brand, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
First, consider what makes your small business unique. What sets you apart from the competition? Once you’ve identified your unique selling proposition, you can begin to craft a brand around it.
It’s also important to understand your target audience.
- Who are you trying to reach with your brand?
- What do they care about?
- What kind of language resonates with them?
Answering these questions will help you create a brand that speaks to your customers.
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These are all aspects we cover at CORE Brand Marketing Group when we first sit down with a new client. By formulating a CORE Foundation and brand strategy you’ll attract more people to your brand, which means when you know what you stand for, you will easily set yourself apart from others.
Many clients want to jump right into brand logos and marketing, but without a unique brand strategy your business will never stand out. If you don’t have a brand you have a commodity. You’ll need to compete on price and that is a one-way ticket to failure.
And you’ve gone through too much experience in life to get where you are today, to be judged on the price of your product or offer.
The Steps: How to build a successful brand for your small business
Since you are not going to be another generic digital face in the crowd, you need to distinguish your brand and content from the rest. And this is where my Digital Branding Roadmap swoops in to help.
Creating a brand strategy roadmap is essential for any business, no matter how big or small, because it lays out the plan for how you will create and nurture a strong brand presence that will resonate with your target market. Without it, you’re flying blind and are much more likely to make costly mistakes that could damage your business in the long run.
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If you’re not sure where to start with building your brand, consider these four phases of our Digital Branding Roadmap™:
1. Formulate your Brand Strategy
2. Define your Brand Messaging
3. Design Your Visual Language
4. Digital Marketing Plans
If you want to create a roadmap that will take your business to the next level, make sure it includes all of these essential components.
1. Formulate your Brand Strategy
The first step in creating a successful brand strategy roadmap is to define your brand strategy. You’ve also heard me refer to this as your CORE Foundation.
This involves understanding what makes your business unique and what sets you apart from your competitors.
Once you have a clear understanding of your own individuality, you can begin to craft messaging and visuals that will resonate with your target market.
When you know what you stand for, you will easily set yourself apart from others in your industry.
2. Define your Brand Messaging
The second step starts with conducting market research to help you understand your target market’s needs, wants, and pain points.
Without this critical data, it’s impossible to create an effective brand strategy.
Using this research, you want to set up your unique selling proposition to define your brand and the solution you provide with your offer.
Explain what your brand offers to potential clients and how you do it differently from competitors. Hitting on those exact pain points and wants you discovered within your market research.
3. Design Your Visual Language
Once you have a clear understanding of your brand, it’s time to start creating a visual identity.
This is the brand design and everything tangible you can see of your brand. When used correctly and consistently, your brand identity becomes memorable to your audience and instantly separates you from competitors.
This includes everything from your logo and website design to your social media profile pictures and cover photos.
When your audience remembers you, it is easier for them to recommend you to others. By establishing a strong visual identity, you can build trust and loyalty with your target market, which will pay off in the long run.
The components we design for our CORE Brand Marketing Group clients inside our visual language package include:
- Brand Logo
- Color Palette
- Brand Fonts
- Style Guide
- Stock Images
- Headshots
- Design Elements
- Graphic Templates
Your goal is to create a consistent look and feel across all touchpoints so that customers can easily recognize your brand. When your audience remembers you, it is easier for them to recommend you to others. By establishing a strong visual identity, you can build trust and loyalty with your target market, which will pay off in the long run.
4. Digital Marketing Plans
Once you have all the pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting your brand to the world. This can be done through paid advertising, social media marketing, blogging, and other marketing initiatives.
Once you know where your target market will interact with your brand, you can create cohesive and consistent messaging that speaks to their needs.
This includes the continuous act of driving content to your sales process.
Content is one of the most important elements of building a successful brand. By creating high-quality blog posts, infographics, videos, etc., you can position yourself as an industry thought leader and attract attention from potential customers.
You use content and communication to deliver messaging around what you do, how it solves problems for your niche audience, and how clients can get your solution.
As you set up your digital marketing funnel, you need to monitor and evaluate results.
This helps you understand what’s working and what isn’t so that you can make necessary adjustments to your strategy. Without this feedback loop, it’s impossible to fine-tune your approach and ensure that you’re getting the best possible results.
Track your brand awareness and customer engagement metrics over time to see how your efforts are paying off.
The 4 Essential Components Of A Brand Strategy Roadmap
What are some common branding mistakes small businesses make?
Creating a strong brand doesn’t happen overnight—it takes time, effort, and careful planning. But the rewards are well worth the investment.
In my 20+ years of building brands, the one area I see solopreneurs and business owners derail from is being CONSISTENT.
Consistency is key when building a brand.
Not only should you make sure you are using the same colors, fonts, and overall design across all of your communications but you must stay within your messaging guidelines.
You must have clear and concise messaging or it can be difficult to connect with your target audience.
As Anna Bolton said, “Consistency isn’t sexy, but in messaging it sells.”
I get that saying the same thing over and over again can seem boring – but if you don’t have defined guardrails on what you do and don’t say in your CONTENT (blogs, emails, social captions), you’re doing marketing all wrong.
When your target audience is being exposed to your core messages, visual branding, and other brand elements repeatedly, it will help to solidify brand recognition and lead to all the other benefits mentioned earlier of building a strong brand for your small business.
Recap: Brand Building
I get that building a brand may seem like a daunting task, but it’s essential for the success of your small business. By taking the time to develop a strong brand identity, you’ll be able to set yourself apart from your competitors and build long-term relationships with your customers.
It takes time, investment, and effort, but the rewards are well worth it.
If you’re not sure where to start, at CORE Brand Marketing Group, we can help.
Fill out an application today for a free 15-min brand strategy call, and let us help you build the perfect brand for your small business. Go to corebrandmarketing.com to get started.
Don’t be overlooked: Build a strong brand to set yourself apart.
Whether you hire CORE Brand Marketing Group to help you streamline and shorten your brand-building process or want to do it yourself. I do want you to have a complimentary copy of my Digital Branding Roadmap™ – Go to mybrandroadmap.com to get your FREE COPY!
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