When you compare businesses which are still going strong and those which have already folded, you recognize one thing—effective branding. Your ability to successfully brand your business determines your business’s ability to survive even when the economy collapses just like now. You think about Pepsi, and Amazon among others and you notice that it these names have stood strong and proud even with the recent economic turmoil.
What are the advantages of branding a business? First off, you’ll be able to differentiate yourself from your biggest competitions. Secondly, you can send a focused message to your customers. Basically, when people think about soda, the word which often pops in their heads first is Pepsi. This is because Pepsi keeps sending a focused message to their customers that when it comes to soda, they are the authority. This leads to increased credibility and strong user loyalty. But then again, big corporations like Pepsi and Amazon have a lot of resources to utilize for their advertising and branding campaigns. So how can a small business brand itself with its limited resources?
Blogs
To start off, branding is different from advertising. When you’re branding your business, it is not enough to just commission a dozen of brochures, newspaper ads and pay-per-click ads. You need to connect with your customers and introduce your business to them in a manner which is memorable. Big corporations do this with the help of television propaganda or radio advertisements which aim to strike a chord with the audience. Because small businesses do not have enough resources to tap into these media, blogging is the most commonly used tool for branding small businesses.
In your blog, talk about your core idea and vision. What does your organization aim to achieve. You do not have to overreach. You can simply talk about how you wish your business to impact your community. Probably you want to provide quality cookware to residents of your community. Talk about your motivations. It may be that your grandparents where the first people who sold cookware in your locality and you wish to continue their legacy and uphold their untarnished reputation. In branding, it is crucial to transcend beyond the monetary motivation of doing business.
Consistency is something which you cannot just talk about—you need to embody it. One important aspect of branding is consistency. Customers expect something from you based on the image which you project, and your business has to deliver every single time. So whether that is topnotch customer service, quality goods or low prices, you need to be consistent.
Your author Chris Marentis enjoys writing from real world experience building businesses and closing sales. His company Surefire Social specializes in local business internet marketing