Whether you’ve just become a dealer on Amazon or been serving clients from your home-salon, at some point or the other you would’ve faced ‘the Branding conundrum’.
Should I invest in it? How much? How often? Where do I even start?
Read on to learn for yourself how branding can boost your business’ performance by at least 30%
Introspect & Research:
The first step in branding your business is understanding your business. Now this might seem like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised when you critically start thinking. Can you describe your business in a line? What sets you apart from your competitors? Can you clearly define your target audience? Can you forecast what your brand (not just the numbers) will look like in 5 years?
It’s ok to not know all the answers instinctually, in fact it’s great! You should take time to think about these facets of your business instead of blurting out the first thing that comes to your mind. Research terminology, your competitors, brands that inspire you, trends in the market and related themes that will help define your business and in turn, your brand.
Begin introspecting with our simple branding questionnaire. Go on, it only takes 15 minutes!
Connect & Create:
Take the next step without further ado, start building your brand identity and with it, your brand persona, story and tonality. If this seems overwhelming, as it would to anybody new to the creative industry, get help! Your first instinct will be to hire that cousin who (by mistake) introduced you to Photoshop. Or you might consider getting an intern to cut costs. But be sure to ask yourself, Can I entrust the creation of the brand profile to an amateur?
No? Get on LinkedIn and find yourself an in-house design expert who is not only skilled but strategic. Better yet, hire a small team of creative people who can own, lead and deliver your brand. They will not only bring a fresh perspective but also a culmination of different talents.
Check out how our team of super-designers are transforming businesses just like yours.
Collaborate & Get noticed:
The most effective and efficient way for small businesses to promote themselves is to connect and collaborate with other small businesses. Ideally, look for businesses of the same size as yours (if not bigger) and check if their product or service complement yours. You will have struck gold if your target audiences are also the same, without any conflict of interest. For example, if you are a niche fashion boutique, find other businesses that connect with your customers like a beauty salon, art café, contemporary jewelry, cosmetics brand. The possibilities are endless! Show your collaborators the mutual benefits of your association and cross-promote on all the platforms to get the word out. There’s a good chance that an untapped audience will discover your business thanks to your collaborators’ efforts.
Get social and boost your performance:
All things said and done, no matter how important a brick-mortar store is for your business, without socializing online a chunk of your target audience may remain untapped. And the best part is that maintaining a virtual-social presence is much more economical than traditional advertising. If you have recently set up your social profiles, boost your page views by promoting your best posts. Keep these targeted to your key audience for maximum return on investment and to maintain quality interactions on your page. If you are yet to launch your brand page, do it with a bang! Create a bold campaign that presents your brand’s identity, story and offering to a whole new audience. Set aside a budget (even if it’s modest) to promote your campaign and let the likes and comments flood in!
