Creating a brand identity for your business is an effective way to reach out to customers. However, small business branding is more than just a well-designed logo and a catchy slogan: it’s also about staying relevant, reaching the right people, and driving home your company’s “why.” What’s the meaning or purpose behind your brand identity? What do you want to convey to your target audience? How you communicate your branding message can impact your effectiveness and determines if a customer recognizes your message or chooses to ignore it. Look at what makes your company unique and then amplify it.
Keeping your branding message top of mind is crucial in influencing a consumer’s buying decision. Use these tips to create an effective branding strategy and connect with your audience on a deeper level.
1. Use multiple forms of digital marketing.
In today’s internet-driven world, most consumers look for a business’s online presence before visiting in person. For effective small business branding, it is important to recognize which type(s) of digital marketing will yield the most value and communicate your branding message. Whether you use social media, search engine marketing, email marketing, or mobile and display advertising, make sure your brand voice is consistent. Understand the various supporting roles that each channel can play in an integrated branding strategy and use the unique benefits of each marketing medium to their best advantage.
Your website is also important when it comes to brand messaging. By hiring a professional website designer to build a full website or at least a landing page, you can elevate your brand identity and build loyalty with your consumer base. Including a professional website in your small business branding strategy will also draw in new customers from offline advertising and promotions.
2. Know who your audience is.
Getting to know your target audience can be the difference between your brand message being compelling or boring. By using the same language your audience uses and understands, your brand identity will come across in a more relatable way. People need to relate to your story — if you’re talking over their heads or using hard-to-understand language, they’re going to ignore you, even if your products are perfect for them.
Hyport Digital offers a free online course called Discover Your Brand Voice that focuses on creating a written personality in your communication.
When creating a small business branding strategy, spend time gathering information on customers. How old are they? What do they look for in a brand?
Which social media platforms are they using? Reach your target customers with enough frequency to change their minds and inspire a response through your branding message.
An experienced digital marketing team can develop a well-thought-out strategy aimed squarely at your business goals, which will increase brand awareness.
3. Have one-on-one conversations with your customers.
People connect with people, not businesses. With social media as a powerful communication tool, every business can communicate directly with its customers. Listen to them and observe what they’re doing. Communicate your branding message by reaching out to customers and talking about their likes, reposting follower content on social media, and creating fan appreciation posts. Using social media tools like Instagram’s interactive questions sticker for stories is another great way to engage with your following and gather feedback. This is the key to staying relevant because it keeps you connected with your audience and conveys your brand identity.
When a customer shares a positive experience, give open-ended responses and strike up conversations that humanize your business. People love when a brand takes the time to have a conversation with them — one-on-one. When you take the time to have personal conversations with your customers, soon they will be the ones doing your marketing for you. Increase brand awareness by ensuring that communication from your end is genuine and empathetic.
4. Keep your branding message simple, yet meaningful and direct.
Between online and offline marketing, consumers face thousands of branding messages every day. In person, on websites, in advertising, and on social media, people decide whether or not they’ll stay tuned to hear more in the first few seconds. It’s best to keep your message simple and to the point, but make sure it packs a punch. Take your brand identity to the next level by showcasing the stories behind your business and the products and services you offer. Your small business branding strategy should reinforce your values and be relatable to your target audience.
5. Invest in your employees.
When you think of marketing, your customers likely come to mind first. But there is another “market” that is equally important to your company’s brand message: your employees, the very people who can make the brand come alive for your customers. Whether in-person or online, employees serve as brand ambassadors when they’re meeting with customers. Invest in an internal branding strategy for your employees to create an emotional connection to your company and explain your branding message.
When people care about and believe in the brand they represent, they’re motivated to work harder and their loyalty to the company increases. Employees who understand and value their responsibilities as extensions of your company will do a better job of communicating its message, which will increase brand awareness.
To stay competitive and on top of the game in today’s world, businesses must have a brand message that not only communicates what their company does and what it’s about but that resonates with people. According to research from Bergische University, brands produce similar feelings as the ones we feel when we like someone. So, people feel similarly about brands as they do about other people. That is why it’s vital to create a small business branding strategy that your audience can relate to.
Are you communicating your company’s branding message effectively? As a full-service digital marketing agency, Hyport Digital offers a variety of products and services to help businesses create a branding strategy that will increase brand awareness and connect them with future customers.
Contact our team to learn more!
