You’re posting on social media, writing blogs, and sending weekly emails. And yet, your business still isn’t growing.
The problem could be your branding.
Branding a business is hard work– that’s why there are entire companies like High Tide Creative to do it for you.
What you want more than clients or customers is a recognizable brand. Because once your company is well-known, all the extra small business brand marketing (like posting on social media and writing blogs) just feeds into your already massive list of leads.
Let’s talk about how you can build a well-known brand.
3 Steps To Branding a Business
You have a great idea, but you don’t know anything about branding a business. Maybe you think you don’t even need to.
The appeal of having a recognizable company is that people tend to trust you more. And mistrust is rising.
According to Startup Bonsai, “69% of people fear that more brands than ever are spreading fake news or misinformation. Only 1 in 3 people say they trust most of the brands they buy or use. And 56% of people say that too many brands use societal issues as a marketing ploy to land more sales.”
You need is to get your customers to like, know, and trust you. So, here are three steps to nailing a trustworthy brand.
Step 1: Know Who You’re Talking To
Every great brand starts with knowing who you are.
How can you expect others to understand you and your brand if you can't explain yourself? The simplest way to start defining yourself is by creating your company’s mission statement. What are you trying to accomplish? What’s your key message?
After you figure that out, you should define your target audience, also known as your Ideal Client Avatar (ICA).
As the name might indicate, this means knowing what audience you’re trying to reach— because it makes a huge difference.
Are you trying to talk to single men in their 20s, or are you trying to reach teenage girls? When you think about it, you shouldn’t have the same messaging for both.
Come up with an Ideal Client Avatar by identifying:
• Their gender
• Age
• Location
• Goals
• Hobbies
• Fears
• Favorite social sites
The more you know about them, the better you will be at targeting them.
Step 2: Like, Have a Marketing Plan
Nowadays, you can’t just post on Instagram and hope your account will grow overnight. You need a solid marketing plan for what kind of content you want to post and when to post it.
Part of this plan is also knowing what platform is best for your target audience.
Are you targeting Gen Z with vegan products? Then Tik Tok is a must. But if you’re going for Baby Boomers, you might want to look into Facebook. Marketing the right kind of content to the right audience on the right platforms is how you get people to like your brand without really trying.
It’s almost like coordinating being in the right place at the right time.
While the type of content will be different across platforms, keep in mind that video is huge right now, and it’ll make a difference in your small business brand marketing.
Don’t believe me? Check out these stats for video marketing for 2022
Step 3: Trust with Consistency and Communication
Another huge part of branding a business it’s a consistent aesthetic. People will easily recognize and remember you if you always use the same color palette, fonts, and logo.
This goes back to the idea of brand identity: if you don’t know what you look like, how will your Ideal Client Avatar remember you?
And on the topic of Ideal Clients, they will love it if you're talking to them and not at them. People nowadays want to feel a personal connection with the brands they buy from. It isn’t just about a customer but about creating a community.
A community that trusts your business.
If you don’t know how to start, the simplest way is to reply to comments they leave on your page.
You can also practice outbound engagement, in which you seek out your ideal client and engage with them (here’s how). This will be a great way of starting a more personal relationship with your audience!