10 Quick Tips About Small Business Brand

INTRODUCTION:

What exactly is a business brand and why is it needed? Well, you don't always have to have a brand. If your small business isn't driven by necessity (e.g. a vet or a dry cleaner) or pure convenience chances are that you will need a brand. A brand gives consumers a reason to choose your business over your competitors and if you don't have a strong brand it's probably going to be a very hard sell.

A brand gives a business its:

• unique identity;
• look and feel;
• personality.

Hubspot (an inbound sales and marketing platform) and Moo (an online print and design partner) recently listed a checklist of branding basics. Here is a brief summary.

Figure 1: VB has a classic brand with John Meillon's distinct voice.

1. Beliefs

Just like humans, brands have a belief of how they should live. A brand manifesto is a short statement that clearly states what the business stands for whether it's a promised service of customer service and anything else that matters to it.

Such a driving force can be useful when employing your team so that they can spread the message and truly engage what yur company stands for.

2. How To Create The Manifesto

Start with a whiteboard and fill it with words, pictures and drawings that resonate with your business.

Ask yourself:

• Why did start a business?;
• What gets me out of bed?;
• How does success look like for my customers, employees and my business?

Then put these into either:

• one line; or
• a series of short, active statements that sum up your beliefs and values.

An example would be The North Face's "Never Stop Exploring" or even Scolari Comerford's small business accountants Sydney and Dubbo "Design, Plan, Monitor".

Figure 2: The Solo Man ad - Light on the fizz so you can slam it down fast!

3. Brands Need To "walk The Walk" Not Just "Talk The Talk"

You need your team to living and breathing your brand or really it will become a fancy saying that doesn't make you famous for it.

4. Value Proposition

In a single sentence your value proposition (a promise of value) aligns key people with a single purpose and explains why customers should buy your products. If done correctly It is one of the biggest factors in lifting sales numbers.

Ask yourself:

1. Who is the customer and what will they look like?
2. What problem are you solving?;
3. What 5 benefits do you offer they don't get going somewhere else?;
4. What is your brand promise? (e.g. money back guarantee)?;
5. Bring together answers to the above into a single sentence or paragraph;
6. Now try and make it shorter.

5. Tell Your Story

Building relationships with others is always easier if you have a story to tell. Your brand story should state:

• Who you are; and
• Why you're doing, what you do. 

6. Your Personality

Your brand is really your personality - how you are perceived by the world.

It could be:

• Excitement (Go-Pro);
• Sophistication (Prada);
• Sincerity (Band-Aid);
• Competence (Costco);
• Ruggedness (Old Spice or Solo Soft Drink);

Figure 3: Balmain Baz has become associated with the abstract art brand and is loved whenever someone comes into the gallery!

7. Your Voice

If your brand was a person, how would your voice sound and what would you say?

A good example of this would be Victoria Bitter (Actor John Meillion was the original) whose clear style of ad and sound gives it a clear type of personality.

8. Have A Good Look (As Opposed to 'Not A Good Look')

This could be your logo, colour palette, or font. For colours:

• Red - brazen & strong;
• Yellow - optimistic;
• Black - sophisticated and sexy;
• Blue - trust;
• Neutral - calm, cool and modern;
• Green - nature and health.

9. Your Channels

How will you broadcast your brand?

Will it be online through:

• Website;
• Social Media;
• Newsletters;
• Transactional Emails;
• Videos.

And offline:

• Business Cards;
• Letterheads;
• Loyalty Cards;
• Packaging;

10. Use Tools To Create Your Brand

Contact us if you would like us to show you where to find some free resources to create your brand. It's not as hard as you think and the benefits could be enormous. 

CONCLUSION:

Your business will become famous for something if you work out what it is and communicate it.

What's your brand?