A brand is the collection of experiences your customers and prospects have with your company. A strong brand communicates what you do and how you do it. If done well, it also establishes trust and credibility.
So, how can you build your small business by strengthening your brand? Here are five inexpensive ways.
1. Create great products & services
This may seem obvious, but be sure to keep your focus on creating the strongest products or services possible. You can have a great name, logo, and tagline, but without consistently delivering your best in this area, your brand will suffer.
Prioritize customer feedback and product/service reviews.
Even when you need to be lean, get this piece right, and stay consistent. Your brand (and your customers!) will thank you. Is there anyone you can ask for feedback this week?
💡WEBSITE INSIGHT: Consider highlighting your great reviews on your website for customers to see as they browse your products.
2. Find what makes you unique
You know what differentiates you. (Don’t you?) Is it speed or quality? Is it your customer service or your team? Perhaps it’s a design you created, or a product sold nowhere else in the state.
Take 30 minutes to figure out what makes you unique and make sure you state it clearly (on your website, through your social posts, and when talking to your customers and prospects).
You may have done this work when first starting your business, but how long has it been since you’ve revisited it? The world has changed, and so have you.
3. Establish your voice
What you say is half the battle. How you say it is the other more nuanced half. You’re constantly using your voice, and you’re likely adjusting it unknowingly. Take the time to be intentional about establishing your voice.
How do you start and end conversations and emails? Do you communicate with short or long sentences? What is the personality coming through your communications? Not sure? Begin to notice. Then, run an experiment by simply changing your greetings. What do you notice?
If you’re not sure what your company voice should be, observe brand voices you like. What do you like about them and why?
💡WEBSITE INSIGHT: When you do find your voice, use it consistently across your website! This will help users begin to form a true connection with your brand.
4. Be consistent
It can be easy to forget about consistency. You’re on the go and you have too much to do. Do yourself a favor and choose what needs to be consistent and build in systems to support you.
For example, choose your desired fonts for marketing emails and save them in a template. Decide on a few content formulas that work for social media posts and save them, changing only the critical information each time.
Speaking of multiple communication channels, make sure you’re talking about your business in the same way via your website, social profiles, emails, and in person.
Need some clean-up? Audit your content!
5. Under promise, over deliver
In other words, keep or exceed your promises. We all make daily promises without thinking about them as promises. “I’ll have that to you by noon.” “That project will be done tomorrow.” “We’ll have that new feature in three weeks.”
Failing to keep your promises can tarnish relationships. Be mindful of what you say. And, when you commit to something, put it on your calendar and deliver it on or before the due date you set!
Your brand lives in these daily interactions with those you serve; in the images you share, the content you include on your website and your messages in marketing and social posts.
Hopefully, these tips help you take simple steps to boost your brand and build your business with little money!
