Branding is one of the most crucial aspects of a business. In fact, clothing for humans can very well be compared with branding for businesses. It hardly matters if your business is big or small, what really matters is to have a unique identity in the market so people can recall easily. You have to reach the stage where people see your logo and instantly connect with the business or the company name. Remember everything that the public sees is your brand. The small businesses often lose help thinking, they can never match the grounds like big ones. But this is an absolute misconception. They just need to follow a few simple rules to make it happen like the biggies. Some of them which are essential are as follows:-

1. The design of the logo is not all: A coffee lover will not prefer Barista over Starbucks, JUST because of the logo! Its not that logos are not important but it is not really required that you spend a fortune on it. You can hire a professional if needed but don’t be misguided by the fact that it will have a strong effect on your sales as well. Your logo is great as long as people get the message of your company and can recollect the name of it. Feel free to put it wherever you can, including business mails, business cards, yellow pages, local directories, websites etc.

2. Do not underestimate the power of a good website: It is important that people understand the importance of a good, professional website that can carry the message of the business well. There will be infinite instances where you will be approached by people through your website and the last thing you would want is to spoil the impression through your website. So make sure you change as the world changes, and keep your website new & updated. In terms of time, make sure you update the features and the look at least every 2 years.

3. Don’t forget to blog: Well, looking at the statistics, this is one form of marketing you cannot afford to miss in the current scenario. If you cannot continuously provide content you might just lose out on valuable customers. There are information-hungry people out there and they NEED experts. Blogs will help you maintain that image of an expert. It is simple to publish blogs and with the help of a little SEO and tweaking here and there, you can reach out to a lot of people you might miss had there been no blog. This way, the conversation would not just be one sided as the customers will be able to follow the company more closely.

4. Be seen, heard and felt: A recent survey proves people need to be shown the brand (logo, face of the company etc.) at least seven times before they actually buy the product. So don’t single out your marketing strategy with blogs and move in and around different circles as well. Trade shows, events, conferences, unconferences, sponsoring local events etc. will ensure more visibility followed by more “talking about”. If you are not keeping yourself active like this you may probably be wondering why you’re not getting the results.

5. Quick overview: The only reason why people may not be interested in your company could be because of lengthy paragraphs just mentioning the highs and lows of it. Adopt the KISS rule here: Keep it simple, stupid. Make sure that the page with your company’s overview is not overflowing with words. Use short paragraphs and sentences. Just give a small intro with your value proposition, target audience benefits etc. with a case study. All of this should be done with in one page, so your customers do not have to flick in between a lot of pages.

6. Stick to your words: You may already be aware that brand loyalty can exist only if the customers are given a consistent experience. Make sure you fulfill what you say. If you give people a date, make sure you stick to it. Be professional. Unfulfilled expectations can leave a bad taste in your customer’s mouths. But if the same customers have had a good experience, they might just refer to others. Although this comes with no guarantee. But still increases your chances of being heard.

There are several other things that you one can do to get your brand give tight competition to the already famous ones. McDonalds is just one example for a crowd of thousand others. Devise a strategy to understand your customers well and give them what they want. Your brand and image will go down the drain if you fail to provide what you are considered to be the “best” at. Remember, experts are not good at a lot of things but the best at one. So stick with it.

 

Article written by Mark