Ten ways to build a brand for your small business

Ten ways to build a brand for your small business

1. Start by defining your brand.

Review the product or service your business offers, pinpoint the space in the

market it occupies and research the emotive and rational needs and concerns

of your customers. Your brand character should promote your business, connect

with your customer base and differentiate you in the market.

2. When building your brand, think of it as a person.

Every one of us is an individual whose character is made up of beliefs, values and

purposes that define who we are and who we connect with. Our personality

determines how we behave in different situations, how we dress and what we

say. Of course for people it's intuitive and it's rare that you even consider what

your own character is, but when you're building a brand it's vital to have that

understanding.

3. Consider what is driving your business.

What does it believe in, what is its purpose and who are its brand heroes. These

things can help establish your emotive brand positioning and inform the identity

and character for brand communications.

4. Aim to build long-term relationships with your customers.

Don’t dress up your offering and raise expectations that result in broken

promises, create trust with honest branding — be clear who your company is and

be true to the values that drive it every day.

5. Speak to your customers with a consistent tone of voice.

It will help reinforce the business’ character and clarify its offering so customers

are aware exactly what to expect from the product or service.

6. Don't repeat the same message in the same way over and over again.

Alternatively, aim to make your key messages work together to build a coherent

identity.

7. Don’t try to mimic the look of chains or big brands.

Try and carve out your own distinctive identity. There is a big consumer trend

towards independent establishments, and several chains are in fact trying to

mimic an independent feel to capture some of that market. Truly independent

operators can leverage their status to attract customers who are looking for

something more original and authentic, that aligns with how feel about

themselves.

8. Be innovative, bold and daring – stand for something you believe in.

Big brands are encumbered by large layers of bureaucracy, preventing them from

being flexible and reacting to the ever-changing needs of their customers. Those

layers of decision-makers can make it hard for them to be daring with their

branding.

9. Always consider your branding when communicating with customers.

Don't lose your pride or dilute your brand positioning with indiscriminate

discounting. Try offering more, rather than slashing prices. Promotions are an

opportunity to reinforce your brand mission.

10. The old way of stamping your logo on everything won't cut it.The future 

of branding is fluid and engaging — respect your customer's intelligence

by not giving everything away up front. Generate some intrigue and allow 

them to unearth more about your brand for themselves. This is the way to

foster ambassadors who revel in telling other people what they have discovered.

Written by Dan Einzig of Mystery, the agency that helped develop brands for

clients including the growing café chain Giraffe, Caffé Italia, Ponti’s Italian Kitchen,

Caffé Ritazza, Masala Masala, Gino Gelato, Monkey Nuts and Za Za Bazaar, the

largest restaurant in Britain.

References and content collected from:

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/marketing-strategy/branding/ten-

ways-to- build-a- brand-for- your-small- business