As a small business owner, it’s so important to build a brand that people want to interact with. Whether you’re a butcher, a mechanic, or a marketing agency, it’s important to design a website, perhaps using website templates to save time and money, like it’s your new shop front – people are far more likely to find you online than they would find you in the street.
Below, we’ve put together some tips on building awareness of your brand in the most sensible and effective manner; read on and get started right away…
Focus on your website
Perhaps one of the most important elements of online brand building is a good website, so it’s vital that you build a site that reflects your business in the best way possible. It’s no longer acceptable to have a simple one-page site – you need to build a site that answers your customers’ questions, updates them on the latest goings-on in your industry, and helps them find the products and services they need. Make your website your key focus; you can’t get the rest of your branding right until you have the appropriate foundations in place first.
Be consistent with your graphics
Red is synonymous with Coca Cola and blue and yellow with IKEA. Though it’s unlikely your small business will be able to dominate a colour palette in the same way, you still must develop a brand that reflects your values and is immediately recognizable. Your branding should be consistent – from your in-store experience to your website, social media, and other marketing materials. If it’s not, it’s likely you’ll confuse and alienate potential customers. Get it right and you’ll look like a professional, level-headed organization that takes itself seriously.
Think about social media
Something else you can’t ignore when it comes to online branding is social media. It’s vital that you set up channels on the big networks, namely Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and engage with your audience. You can share behind-the-scenes content working on products, special offers and exclusive discounts, and even ask your followers questions to boost your engagement and interaction. The more active you are, the better the results are going to be.
Consider other marketing strategies
The truth is marketing has come a long way in recent years, and whilst the fundamentals are the same today as they were 20 years ago, the ways in which you can promote your firm have come on leaps and bounds. As well as social media and a great website, you should think about other marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, which can help your website rank organically for key terms. If you’re a plumber, for example, you could aim to rank for the ‘plumbers in New York’ keyword to target local consumers. 91.5% of Google traffic stays on the first page, and only 4.8% of users click through to the second page of a search, so having a good search engine presence could make or break your business and win over hundreds of new customers. Work with an SEO firm that can help you rank highly. An alternative is to pay for advertising through Google Ads or Facebook Ads – you’ll appear at the top of search engine results pages and in users’ timelines immediately, though you’ll pay for every click and you’ll need to refine your sales funnel to ensure it works financially.
Experiment with video content
Another marketing strategy that’s becoming more and more prevalent in recent years is video marketing. Create quality content for YouTube and your own website and you’ll soon be considered an authority in your industry, and have consumers lining up to buy from you. Whether it’s an explainer video showing users how to set up your product, or fun videos that talk about the history of your industry or business, there are so many options to try. Live streaming is also becoming more and more popular – you could pay for a host to speak about your business, answer questions from fans, and promote special offers and sales.
Deliver a great experience
Although branding and marketing go hand in hand, the number one way to build your brand is to be good at what you do and deliver a great customer experience. Whether you sell shoes or legal advice, giving customers what they want will result in great reviews on sites like Google My Business and Yelp, and ultimately lead to more word-of-mouth referrals, too. Get the branding right and fail to deliver on service, and you’ll be wasting your time and money. It’s about offering the whole package; do a great job and be good at promoting it.
There are so many things you need to think about when building brand awareness for your business, but the tips we’ve offered above should help you on your way. Do let us know how you get on – work hard, focus on your customers and your business, and you’ll find success!