The idea of branding can be a daunting prospect for any small business, understanding where to start and how to create and maintain your brand can seem like more trouble than it’s worth. Branding is often attributed to large companies with huge marketing budgets but a memorable and consistent brand experience can be achieved by any size business.
Here are several key points to help any small business to achieve their branding needs:
Consistency is king
A consistent brand image is an integral part of any brand, consistency in all applications from logo placement, brand colours to messaging and tone of voice all have a valid part in the brand experience. Consistency builds relationships with your audiences and turns them into customers. Brand guideline documents are a useful addition to any branding exercise as it sets the groundwork for all future communications and allows the Content Creator, Designer or Employee the correct way to represent the brand be it through visual or physical means.
Brand guidelines are a vital tool for brand consistency
Understand your brand values
Over time your logo, products, services or website may evolve and change but one thing that must always stay the same is your brand values. Your core brand values are the key foundations by which your brand stands by. They should act as guidance to your brand story, direction, decisions and behaviour. Creating your brand values is a challenge in itself and takes looking ‘inside your brand’ for its true meaning, proposition, personality and purpose.
Establish your tone of voice
Tone of voice is the way you communicate to your customers and clients, be it through strapline messaging, blog posts or brochure copy. It may be professional and confident or funny, witty and humorous, whichever personality it takes, your tone of voice should resonate with your key audience. For example, if you’re a b2b business you may look to talk in a more professional and formal tone of voice to reflect the nature of your business and your values whereas if you own a bespoke Cat Sitting Service you may want to focus of a quirky and friendly tone of voice. All in all, brand messaging should be kept as consistent as possible to not confuse your audience.
Branding is much more than just a logo
Your brand is much more than just making your logo ‘bigger’. It’s every experience your customers have with your brand from business cards, social media channels to employee behaviour and customer service. Paying attention to the details is where your brand comes to fruition and becomes a memorable experience, It’s that printed sign rather than a hand-scrawled note in a window or a professional sounding voicemail rather than a generic one.
Your employees are also your brand
Your brand is much more than the brochure you hand to prospective clients or your weekly social media posts on Facebook. An important aspect of many small businesses is their employees, your employees understanding of the businesses values and positioning is an important part of customers engaging with your brand.
Branding is caring about every detail of your business, from large things like brand value and proposition to your employees, customers and every available touchpoint. Small businesses shouldn’t be excluded from considering their brand and how they’re perceived by the customers.