Branding 101

Small business owners often neglect the idea of branding for good reason.  After all, brand building seems like a “nice to do” but not necessarily a “must do” when you’re trying to meet payroll, get your product distributed, and keep your current customers happy. However, if you think of your brand as the direct representation of your promise to your customers or clients, rather than some expensive strategic initiative, you quickly realize that “branding” is something you won’t want to ignore. These three tips will get you quickly and easily on a path to developing your distinct brand.

1. Understand Your Market

You got into business for a reason; to help customers fill a need. But how well do you understand your market? To understand what kind of a brand promise will be most meaningful and valuable to those customers, it’s important to know who they are and what “top of mind” problem they might be experiencing. Do they have young children and care most about what’s been happening in their neighborhood—or are they empty nesters that travel often? Knowing both demographic as well as psychographic information about your customers is critical to helping you determine a brand promise that resonates for them. Demographic information includes identifying characteristics such as average income ranges, education levels, typical occupations, geographic location, family makeup, etc. Obtaining psychographic information means knowing the hobbies, interests, recreational/entertainment activities, political beliefs, cultural practices, etc. of your prospective buyers. The more information you have, the better.  How might this information help?

Let’s go back to the empty nester example. By finding out if the bulk of your happiest customers are married (demographic), are between the ages of 50-60 (demographic), and that their children are no longer living with them (demographic) along with the fact that they travel often (psychographic) and use iPhones (psychographics), you now have a powerful idea of what brand message would appeal to them.

2. Understand Yourself 

Many small businesses fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all target audiences. Paradoxically, the more you hone in on what makes you different from your competitors then you can provide your potential customers with a clear understanding of what your business is not only capable of doing, but what it does BEST, the more power your brand message will possess. For example, while many business publications will try to reach a huge demographic like “entrepreneurs,” one of the more successful launches has been from YFS Magazine. YFS is one of the largest independent small business news sites. YFS stands for Young, Fabulous & Self-Employed and they have quickly become a mainstay for startups. By knowing their audience and marrying their audience with what they did BEST, they were able to create crystal clear brand promise that attracted their audience.

3. Consistency. Consistency. Consistency. 

Once you’ve decided on a brand promise, everything in your business should support that promise. If you’ve promised that you have the most “cutting edge” technology available, but your website hasn’t been updated in five years, you’re not being consistent with your brand promise. If you’re “cutting edge,” then be cutting edge in every way. By ensuring that your customer gets a consistent experience no matter where they “see” you, you’ll be strengthening your brand.

Now that you understand the simple steps to developing a brand, you’ll want to start focusing on how to market a brand easily and consistently. To help you do so, download our whitepaper, Adopting a Marketing Mindset.