Step-by-Step Guide to Branding Your Small Business

Photo of author

By Jacob Maslow

A brand isn’t merely a name. Your brand is how people perceive you, which carries over into if they choose to interact with your business. 

You create a brand through consistency and intentionality, and in many cases, it can be more far-reaching than the products themselves. Your brand should evoke a feeling, concept, or ideal, but it all starts with deciding how you want your business to be perceived.

Guide to Developing Your Branding

Developing your brand will take thought, consistency, and passion; here are our key steps to branding your small business. 

1. Create a Buyer Persona and Research your Target Audience

Here are some ways to better understand the current market, i.e., your competitors and potential customers:

  • Google your product or business of service category—analyze direct and indirect competitors
  • Research the social media accounts of your audience to see their preferences
  • Talk to the target audience to see what kind of brands they purchase from
  • Go online to experience the perspective of a buyer and how they’d browse your site.

This information will help you outline the customer’s challenges to see where you can fit in to solve their problems. 

2. Develop your Voice and your Brand Identity

Ask yourself thoughtful questions involving your brand. For example, what does your company represent? What are your company’s values? How do you want people to think of you?

Next, create the content that supports your vision. Begin blogging or making social posts and writing intriguing emails geared towards reflecting your company’s inspiration.

The words that you choose to describe and advertise your brand will be your voice. Will you use conversational language or a more formal and technical approach? It all depends on your vision.

3. Decide How you Want your Brand to Look

A company’s logo is quintessential to brand building. The logo is displayed everywhere that your brand exists, and it will be pivotal when it’s time to make your website.

4. Choose a Logo that is Easily Identifiable, Scalable to All Sizes, and Unique.

Be sure to choose your colors wisely. Colors communicate much more than aesthetic preference; colors express feelings and emotions as well. So take some time and decide what colors best convey how you want your brand to make people remember your company. 

5. Establish a Social Media Presence

Figure out which social media outlet your target audience is spending most of its time establishing a presence there.

For example, men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 are the greatest demographic which uses Facebook regularly. Therefore, if your target audience falls within this pool, it would be smart to begin here.

If you discover that your audience prioritizes one social network over the others, then you will know where to place most of your resources. However, don’t be afraid to diversify networks once you establish yourself.

6. Apply your Brand Across your Business

Studies have shown that when shopping online, customers will read up on the business in question to become more acquainted with their practices, and they found that one way to facilitate this interaction is their brand stories.

Having a brand story is an excellent way for your audience to get to know who they’re buying from, and in many ways, it legitimizes your business, letting buyers know that you’re the real deal.

Questions to ask when making your brand story:

  • What was your motivation for launching your business?
  • What is your company’s purpose?
  • How do you help the world progress?
  • What is the story behind your business that your customers should know?

Final Thoughts

You can build a brand for your business by following this user-friendly guide to market your products or services. 

Remember these key tips:

  • Be unique
  • Grow your community
  • Build great products and services
  • Have a good name and logo
  • Find your voice
  • Be consistent
  • Make customer service a priority
  • Stand for something
  • Empower your customers
  • Deliver value

By considering these things, you’ll be able to build a brand for your business that pulls clients in and keeps them coming back for more. 

Images Courtesy of DepositPhotos