Branding profoundly influences every facet of your small business. Whether you’re establishing your brand identity for the first time or rebranding, it’s crucial to clarify your messaging and devise an implementation plan. The following post will guide you in building a strong brand.
Goals, Value, Purpose, Mission: Raison d’Être
While we frequently think of branding as the visual elements – like logos and colors – representing a company, those are really just the tip of the iceberg. A robust branding strategy is essential for establishing a clear and consistent identity that resonates with your target audience and aligns with your business goals.
Define Your Business Goals
Before launching your small business, you need to determine your goals. Think about what you want to achieve in the short term (like the next year) and what you want to achieve in the long term (like the next five or ten years). Your branding strategy should be designed to help you achieve these goals.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What do you want to achieve in the next year? For example, do you want to gain more customers (or maybe your first customer!), enter a new market, or build a loyal customer base?
- How about in the next five or 10 years? Do you see your business expanding to new locations or offering new products?
- How can your brand help you achieve these goals? For example, if you want to build a loyal customer base, your brand should emphasize trust and reliability.
- What specific results do you hope to see from your branding efforts? More customers? Higher sales? Better customer reviews?
Understand Your Brand’s Purpose, Vision, and Mission
Your brand’s purpose, vision, and mission statements are the foundation of your business. They explain why your brand exists, what you hope to achieve, and how you plan to get there.
Purpose: Why did you start your business? What problem are you solving for your customers? This is the core reason your business exists beyond making money.
Vision: What do you want your business to become in the future? This is your long-term dream for your brand. It should be something inspiring that guides your decisions.
Mission: How will you achieve your vision? This is a practical statement that outlines the steps and actions you’ll take to reach your goals.
If you don’t yet have these written out, take some time now to do this.
Identify Your Brand’s Core Values
Core values are the principles that guide your business decisions and behavior. They shape your company culture and how you interact with customers and employees.
Examples of core values:
- Integrity and honesty: Always be truthful and transparent with your customers.
- Customer-centricity: Put your customers first in everything you do.
- Innovation and creativity: Continually find new ways to solve problems and improve your products.
- Sustainability and environmental responsibility: Make choices that are good for the planet.
Generally speaking, everything outlined above is more important than the “fun” small business branding stuff we’ll cover below like choosing a logo. If you don’t know your own company’s purpose, nobody is going to care if you have a gorgeous logo.
“Branding is the promise you make to your customers. It’s the reputation that precedes you and the experience that follows. It’s crucial to building a loyal customer base and standing out in a crowded market.”
–Melanie Perkins | Co-Founder & CEO of Canva
Understanding Your Target Market
Creating a comprehensive understanding of your target market is the cornerstone of a successful small business branding strategy.
Create a Detailed Customer Profile
Begin by building a detailed profile of your ideal customer. This profile, often referred to as a buyer persona, should include demographic information such as age, gender, income level, education, occupation, and geographic location. But don’t stop there; delve deeper into psychographic details, which encompass your target audience’s interests, lifestyles, values, attitudes, and behaviors. Understanding what motivates your customers, their pain points, and their purchasing behaviors will help you tailor your brand messages to resonate more effectively with them.
Questions to consider:
- What are their primary interests and hobbies?
- What values and beliefs do they hold dear?
- What challenges or problems are they facing that your product or service can solve?
- Where do they typically find information and make purchasing decisions (online, in-store, social media)?
Segment Your Market
Now that you’ve established your buyer persona, it’s time to break things down even further. Not all customers are the same. By dividing your audience into smaller groups with similar characteristics, you can tailor your marketing efforts to each group more effectively.
Types of Market Segmentation:
- Demographic Segmentation: Group by age, gender, income, education, etc.
- Geographic Segmentation: Group by location, such as city, region, or country.
- Psychographic Segmentation: Group by lifestyle, values, or interests.
- Behavioral Segmentation: Group by purchasing habits, brand loyalty, or usage rates.
Example: If you run a coffee shop, you might have different segments, like young professionals who need a quick coffee on their way to work and retirees who enjoy spending their mornings socializing over a leisurely cup of coffee.
Identify the Needs Your Offerings Fulfill
Every product or service is designed to meet a need or solve a problem. Clearly identifying these needs for your target market is essential. This step goes beyond understanding what your product does; it’s about understanding how it fits into your customers’ lives and how it makes their lives better.
Consider the following:
- How does your product or service improve the daily life of your customers?
- What specific pain points or challenges does it address?
- Are there emotional benefits, such as peace of mind or increased confidence, associated with your offering?
S U B S C R I B E
Understand How Your Audience Perceives You
Brand perception is the sum of how customers see your brand based on their experiences and interactions with it. It’s crucial to understand this perception because it can differ significantly from how you view your brand.
Steps to understand perception:
- Monitor social media and online reviews to see what customers are saying about your brand.
- Analyze customer feedback and testimonials to identify common themes and sentiments.
By thoroughly understanding your target market, you can create a brand that truly connects with your audience, meets their needs, and stands out from the competition.
“People relate to people, and if your brand feels like people, they’ll relate to you, too.”
–Laura Busche | Brand Strategist, Author & Speaker
Create Your Messaging and Unique Value Proposition
Crafting a compelling message and defining a unique value proposition (UVP) are critical steps in building a small business brand that stands out in a crowded market. Here’s how to develop messaging that resonates with your audience and a UVP that highlights what makes your business unique:
Understand Your Audience’s Needs and Pain Points
Before you create your messaging, you need to have a deep understanding of your audience’s needs, desires, and challenges. This foundational knowledge will ensure that your messaging speaks directly to them and addresses their specific concerns.
Steps to understand your audience:
- Engage with Customers: Interact with your customers through surveys, social media, and in-person conversations to gather insights.
- Analyze Feedback: Look at customer reviews, testimonials, and feedback to identify common themes and issues.
- Identify Trends: Stay updated on industry trends and changes in customer behavior that might affect your audience’s needs.
- Research Your Competition: Knowing who your competitors are and what they’re doing well – or aren’t doing well – can help you position your brand more effectively.
Define Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Your unique value proposition (UVP) is a clear statement that describes the unique benefit your business offers to customers, how you solve their problems, and what distinguishes you from the competition. It should be concise, compelling, and focused on the needs of your target market. Crafting a strong UVP will help you attract and retain customers by clearly communicating why they should choose your business over others.
Design Your Brand
1-on-1 Workshop
In this 90-minute private workshop, we will work through three big areas of brand-building:
1. Crafting the Perfect Elevator Pitch
2. Defining Your Customer Persona
3. Creating Visual Elements
Virtual appointments are available, or join us at our Studio in Batavia, Illinois!
What to think about when creating your UVP:
- Identify Key Benefits: List the most important benefits your products or services provide. Focus on those that address your customers’ primary pain points.
- Highlight Unique Features: Determine what sets your business apart from competitors. This could be your product quality, exceptional customer service, innovative approach, or community involvement.
- Articulate Value: Combine the key benefits and unique features into a clear, compelling statement that explains why customers should choose your business.
Example UVP for a daycare: “For busy parents, our daycare center offers flexible hours and a nurturing environment that helps children thrive. Unlike other centers, we provide a personalized curriculum tailored to each child’s developmental needs.”
Develop Your Core Messaging
Your core messaging includes the key messages you want to communicate to your audience across all touchpoints. It should be consistent, customer-focused, and aligned with your UVP.
Components of core messaging:
- Tagline: A memorable phrase that encapsulates your brand’s essence. Here at Start Something Studio, our tagline is: “Moving Small Business Forward.”
- Elevator Pitch: A brief, persuasive speech that highlights your business’s unique value in a concise manner. For example, our elevator pitch here at Start Something Studio is: “Start Something Studio, Inc. is a women-owned digital marketing company created to help small business owners reach their fullest potential.“
- Key Messages: Core statements that emphasize your brand’s benefits, values, and unique features.
Tailor Your Messaging to Different Audiences
Different segments of your audience may have varying needs and preferences. Tailor your messaging to resonate with these different groups while maintaining consistency with your overall brand message.
Steps to tailor your messaging:
- Segment Your Audience: Identify distinct segments within your target market based on demographics, psychographics, and behaviors.
- Customize Messages: Develop specific messages that address the unique needs and concerns of each segment. For example, if you run a local bakery, you might have different messages for health-conscious consumers, busy professionals, and families.
- Maintain Consistency: Ensure that all tailored messages align with your core messaging and UVP, providing a cohesive brand experience.
Monitor and Refine Your Messaging
Creating your messaging and UVP is not a one-time task. Continuously monitor their effectiveness and make adjustments as needed to ensure they remain relevant and impactful.
Steps to monitor and refine your messaging:
- Gather Feedback: Regularly seek feedback from customers through surveys, reviews, and direct interactions.
- Analyze Performance: Use analytics tools to track the performance of your messaging across different channels. Look for metrics such as engagement rates, conversion rates, and customer retention.
- Adjust as Needed: Based on feedback and performance data, refine your messaging to better align with your audience’s evolving needs and preferences.
Branding: What Everyone Else Sees
Now that you have your buyer persona, UVP, and core messaging, it’s time to create a small business branding plan that effectively communicates your brand identity and ensures consistent messaging.
Define Your Brand’s Voice, Personality, and Tone
Your brand’s voice, personality, and tone reflect how your business will communicate with your audience. Defining these elements ensures consistency in all your communications and helps to create a strong, relatable brand image.
Steps to define your brand’s voice, personality, and tone:
- Identify Key Traits: Determine the key characteristics that define your brand. Are you friendly, professional, innovative, or playful?
- Set a Tone of Voice: Decide how your brand will speak to your audience. Will it be formal or casual? Warm or authoritative?
- Personality: How can your brand’s personality connect with your target customers?
Examples: If you’re a tech startup aiming at young, tech-savvy customers, your brand might have a casual, innovative, and slightly playful personality.
Here at Start Something Studio, we aim to keep our voice friendly and accessible.
Create a Visual Identity
Visual elements such as your logo, color palette, typography, and imagery are crucial for creating a recognizable and cohesive brand identity.
Components of your company’s visual identity:
- Logo: Create (or buy) a logo that represents your brand’s essence. It should be simple, memorable, and versatile.
- Color Palette: Choose colors that convey your brand’s mood and message and align with its personality.
- Typography: Select fonts that are easy to read and reflect your brand’s style.
- Imagery: Photos, illustrations, and graphics that reflect your brand’s aesthetic.
Example: A small, eco-friendly skincare business might use natural colors like greens and browns, with clean, minimalist typography and images highlighting natural ingredients.
Here at the Studio, we’ve opted for bright colors that we hope convey that we are approachable and excited to work with you!
Plan Your Marketing and Communication Channels
Identify the channels you will use to communicate with your audience and promote your brand. This includes both online and offline channels.
Digital Marketing Channels: Choose from social media platforms, email marketing, and your website. (OK, don’t choose – in this day and age most small businesses need all three of these channels.) When your business is a bit more established you may want to investigate online advertising options.
Some popular social media channels used by many small business owners include:
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- TikTok
Offline Channels: Consider print advertising, direct mail, events, and partnerships with other local small businesses.
Combination: Ensure that your messaging is consistent across all channels and that each channel supports your overall branding strategy.
Example: Local boutique Paula’s Couture Consignment uses social media to share new items daily and collaborates with nearby businesses for cross-promotions every weekend.
Develop a Content Strategy
Your content strategy outlines the types of content you will create, how often you will publish, and the platforms you will use to distribute it. This strategy ensures that your content consistently communicates your brand’s message and engages your audience.
Steps to develop a content strategy:
- Identify Content Types: Determine the types of content that best suit your brand and audience, such as blog posts, social media updates, videos, or newsletters. (People always groan when we recommend writing blog posts, but content is still QUEEN. The more content on your site the better.)
- Set a Consistent Publishing Schedule: Decide how often you will publish new content and create an editorial calendar to plan ahead. You don’t have to publish content regularly, but you should establish a consistent schedule so your customers can learn when they can expect to hear from you.
- Create Content Guidelines: Establish guidelines for tone, style, and formatting to ensure consistency across all content. While it might feel silly to do this when you are just starting out, you will be happy to have this information established if your business grows to the point that you need to bring on someone to help with your digital marketing needs.
Example: A fitness studio might create weekly workout videos, daily social media posts with fitness tips, and a monthly newsletter featuring success stories and special offers.
Set Measurable Goals and KPIs
Establish clear, measurable goals for your branding efforts and define key performance indicators (KPIs) to track your progress. This will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your branding plan and make necessary adjustments.
Steps to set goals and KPIs:
- Define Goals: Set specific, achievable goals such as increasing brand awareness, boosting website traffic, or growing your social media following.
- Choose KPIs: Select KPIs that align with your goals, such as social media engagement rates, website traffic, conversion rates, and customer feedback.
- Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review your performance against these KPIs and adjust your strategies as needed to achieve your goals.
Example: A boutique clothing store might set a goal to increase Instagram followers by 20% over six months and use engagement rates and website referral traffic as KPIs.
Implement Your Brand Strategy
For small business owners just starting out, it’s imperative that people see your brand everywhere. This means ensuring your brand is the same everywhere you use it, like on your website, social media, and products. It means making sure your voice is the same everywhere you post or when people see you in public.
Ensure Consistency
Consistency is key to building a strong brand. All customer interactions should reflect your brand’s identity, values, and messaging.
Steps to ensure consistency:
- Brand Guidelines: Develop comprehensive brand guidelines that cover your brand’s voice, tone, visual elements, and messaging. Distribute these guidelines to all team members and ensure they understand and follow them.
- Training: Train your employees on your brand values and how to communicate them effectively. This includes customer service, sales, and marketing teams.
- Brand Assets: Create a library of brand assets such as logos, color schemes, typography, and templates. Make these assets easily accessible to ensure they are used correctly across all platforms. If you don’t yet have a Canva subscription, the platform makes it incredibly easy to save all of your brand assets in one place. At the Studio we use this feature almost daily!
Example: McDonald’s has one of the strongest brands in the world. No matter where you go, you’ll see McDonald’s iconic red and yellow colors and double arches. These elements are reflected in everything from their storefronts to their website, social media posts, and product packaging.
Roll Out Your Brand Across All Channels
Your brand should be visible and consistent across all marketing and communication channels, both online and offline.
Steps to roll out your brand:
- Website: Ensure your website reflects your brand’s visual identity and messaging. Update content to align with your brand voice and values.
- Social Media: Use your brand guidelines to create consistent and engaging content across social media platforms. Schedule regular posts that reinforce your brand message.
- Email Marketing: Design email templates that reflect your brand’s visual identity and tone. Craft email content that resonates with your audience and highlights your UVP.
- Offline Materials: Update all offline materials such as business cards, brochures, signage, and packaging to reflect your new branding.
Example: All of the printed materials we’ve created at Start Something Studio, as well as our website and social media channels, are branded using the same fonts and colors. We are especially fans of the bright pink!
Engage with Your Audience
Building a strong brand involves actively engaging with your audience and fostering a sense of community.
Easy ways to engage with your audience:
- Social Media Interaction: Respond promptly to comments, messages, and reviews on social media. Make sure all responses match your brand’s tone. Encourage user-generated content by running contests or asking for customer photos.
- Customer Feedback: Regularly seek customer feedback through surveys, reviews, and direct interactions. Use this feedback to improve your products, services, and customer experience. When people leave feedback and reviews for you on sites like Facebook and Google, take the time to post a quick response.
- Community Involvement: Participate in local events, sponsor community activities, or collaborate with other local businesses. This helps build a positive brand image and strengthens your connection with the community.
- Personalized Email Marketing: Make a point of growing your email list, then send your customers special emails with useful tips, offers, and products they might enjoy.
Example: Locally, Sturdy Shelter Brewing in Batavia does a great job of hosting community events, collaborating with other local businesses, and interacting with customers on social media.
Monitor and Evaluate Your Brand’s Performance
Continuously monitor your brand’s performance to ensure your strategy is effective and resonating with your audience.
Steps to monitor and evaluate performance:
- Track Metrics: Use tools like Google Analytics, social media insights, and email marketing analytics to track key performance metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, and email open rates.
- Customer Feedback: Regularly collect and analyze customer feedback to understand their perceptions and experiences with your brand.
- Sales Data: Analyze sales data to identify trends and measure the impact of your branding efforts on revenue and customer acquisition.
Example: A day spa might track website visits and sign-ups, monitor social media engagement, and collect feedback from new customers to evaluate the effectiveness of its branding.
Your brand is the story you tell the world about who you are and what you stand for.
Branding is an essential part of growing a successful small business. It’s not just about having a catchy logo or a snappy tagline; it’s about creating a consistent and meaningful experience for your customers that reflects your business’s values and mission. By understanding your market, defining your unique value proposition, and implementing a well-thought-out branding strategy, you can differentiate your business from the competition and build a loyal customer base.
Remember, your brand is the story you tell the world about who you are and what you stand for. Taking the time to develop and nurture it will pay off in increased customer trust, recognition, and business growth.
Your Brand Strategy Will Change Over Time
Small Business Branding is an ongoing process that requires regular adjustments based on feedback and market changes. While it might seem daunting – and this lengthy blog post probably isn’t helping dispel that notion – taking the time to devise a brand that resonates with your ideal customers can truly make or break a business.
But if you find your branding isn’t spot-on or no longer accurately represents your business, don’t be afraid to change. Your brand strategy will change over time, and that’s OK. Businesses grow and change all the time.
With that said, consistency is still key. Don’t change your branding constantly because it will create confusion with your clients and customers. Just don’t feel like you have to be locked into one thing forever.
Start Something Studio Can Help You Develop Your Small Business Branding Strategy
Start Something Studio offers comprehensive support for small businesses looking to implement their brand strategy effectively:
- Design Your Brand: Join us for a one-on-one workshop where we’ll work together to develop and/or strengthen your brand.
- Brand Implementation Plans: Receive customized implementation plans that outline step-by-step actions for rolling out your brand across all channels.
- Training and Workshops: Participate in training sessions and workshops to ensure your team understands and embodies your brand.
- Content Creation: Get assistance with creating branded content for your website, social media, email marketing, and offline materials.
- Performance Monitoring: Leverage the studio’s expertise to set up tracking and analytics tools, and receive regular reports and insights on your brand’s performance.
- Ongoing Support: Studio Members benefit from continuous support and advice, including help refining your branding strategy based on feedback and market changes.
Click here to learn more about all of the ways we work with small business owners.
