Many small businesses t... bit.ly/1u5ZKyG
Here are 5 small business branding tactics that translate into measurable business improvement.
1. Provide value for your target audience.
This shouldn’t be a news flash. Business relationships are grounded in helping your customers and partners to achieve their goals.
Your reputation is a key element of your small business brand. Be nice and help others. This goes beyond branding to social media where it’s considered paying-it-forward.
2. Develop a consistent business identity.
Think real life as well as online. This encompasses everything from your location and personal appearance to your online presence.
By not branding, you’re sending your market a message that you don’t think your brand is worth spending the time on. Follow this 21 point branding checklist to get your brand on track.
For Content Marketing World, you need to think in orange. It’s not just the clothes and signage. It’s the food. How creative can you get regarding your brand? (BTW–I’ve got my orange clothes ready to pack!!!)
3. Get your employees and fans to help you.
Branding is more than skin deep. It’s about your thought leadership and other elements that are ingrained in your employees and raving fans. Set guidelines and seek out your supporters and ask them to contribute.
Encourage these people to contribute to your content efforts whether it’s articles for your blog or photographs for social media.
With the help of Lee Odden and the speakers, Content Marketing Institute creates epic curated content that attracts lots of shares and views. (Here’s the behind the scenes description of how to create epic curated content.)
. Create your branded social media presence.
Go beyond the basics on social media. Consider how you want to present your business. The goal is to cast a large shadow.
Think in terms of your business pages on various platforms. How will you present your business in terms of content, curation and commentary? How will you keep your posting consistent without duplicate content?
Also, decide how you want your employees to engage on social media. Do you want them to use corporate accounts or are you willing to let them build their own presence? Realize that each of these options has its pros and cons. At a minimum, you need social media guidelines.
5. Leverage and brand your existing business tools.
Understand that not taking the time to create brand guidelines for your small business is a decision. Whether you realize it or not, you have a lot more business tools than you think.
Among the major items are your physical presence (especially if it’s a store), website, email addresses, customer communications, purchase receipts, business cards, presentations, and packaging.
Some solopreneurs go to great lengths to wear clothes that stand out. When I was at The Economist, the sales team had to wear a suit (and women had to wear a suit with a skirt.)
