Small Business Branding: Can You Really Achieve it

Last week Brandz announced the annual most valuable brands top 100. The big “surprise” was that Apple had over taken Google as the worlds most valued brand, not really a surprise to anyone who leaves the house these days to be honest but I digress. The top 10 featured the usual suspects and here they are:

1 Apple

2 Google

3 IBM

4 McDonald's

5 Microsoft

6 Coca-Cola

7 AT&T

8 Marlboro

9 China Mobile

10 GE (General Electric)

This got me thinking about branding for small businesses, or rather the lack of it. Many small businesses don’t even bother with branding. They often incorrectly assume that only large corporations have a need to build their brand. The truth is that firms of every size will benefit from having a strong recognisable corporate brand. Here is some great advice for anyone looking to improve their small business branding:

Be different: No business can ever truly distinguish itself from the brand of a competitor if it attempts to copy elements of their branding strategy. Your brand has to be distinct from the competition, with its own personality and characteristics. This can really shine through in your web design.

Positioning: Look carefully at the position of your competition within the market. Understand that it is unlikely that you will be able to occupy the same position and should instead try to establish yourself in a different place within the hearts and minds of your potential customers.

Tell a story: The most successful brands have the ability to engage and thrill potential customers with the stories that they tell. Plain old facts are just simply boring. A story, such as the effect your product has had on the lives of your customers, are an incredibly potent tool for branding. A great tool to extend you story is careful use of PR.

Purchasing decisions: To succeed at branding you have to understand what compels people to buy a product that they might have been on the fence about. The majority of purchases are not rational and are ruled by the heart rather than the head, therefore you must appeal to the heart of potential customers.

Be genuine: Your audience will see right through any fakery or pretence straight away so it is always recommended that you are entirely genuine. Avoid promising things that you cannot provide or pretending to be something that you are not. Customers need you to be honest about things or else they will never build a bond of trust.

Small business branding is vital in my opinion. Many discount it as it is seen as expensive but this does not have to be the case. In reality it means having a combined approach to your marketing and making everything linear and promote you business in a consistent way. The great news is Igneous Marketing have just the service our unique bundles – pick yours today – click here