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Is it even necessary to build a brand for my business?
It’s 1 AM and your stomach’s growling. For that reason, you’re scrolling through a food delivery app, planning to buy food. Only two stores are open, both of which you’ve never tried before. You search Store A on Facebook for reviews. They have a page, but there’s no content available. Then you visit Store B’s Facebook page; it’s an active one, but they post photos without captions and leave plenty of comments unanswered.
Both stores appear iffy. Would you consider buying from one of them?
Hold on! They may not be fraudsters.
Perhaps it’s the lack of strong branding.
What is branding, anyway?
To put it simply, branding identifies your business. This is what your customers see, hear, and experience. Launching such branding will allow you to succeed.
You can think of branding as the “oxygen” of your business. If your business lacks oxygen, it may be on the threshold of not operating properly.
Brand building is more than just setting up social media channels, designing your logo, and uploading your products and services online—it means that you need to understand the emotion that evokes your target market.
In this article, we’ll discuss five reasons why a STRONG brand is important for a small business. Along with these reasons, we’ll also provide tips on strategizing the best small business marketing ideas so that you can align your business goals with your dreams.
1. A strong brand sets the tone for how your business is perceived
First things first—for your brand and business to be authentic and appealing, you have to identify what’s important to you.
Here are some questions to get you started:
- How would I describe my business’s goals?
- What would I want to be the image of my business?
- How would I like to serve my clients and customers?
Having a clear understanding of that will help you make the right steps in establishing a solid brand identity.
Remember, the brand expresses who you are, what you stand for, and what you aim to accomplish. It gives your business vibrance. It plays a major role in the personalities of your products and services.
After you answer all questions in mind, you should have a sense of how you want others to perceive your business. Working toward your vision will surprise you to see that with consistent effort, you can achieve what you imagined!
2. A strong brand evokes your customers’ emotions
Emotion is such a powerful force. Amirite?
If you agree, then you might think that your customers’ purchasing decisions are heavily influenced by their emotional states; therefore, you should offer products and services that are categorized as their needs and wants.
Ask yourself these questions when evoking your customers’ emotions:
- To whom am I speaking?
- Why am I talking to them?
- What goals are my [potential] customers trying to achieve?
Your product or service must clearly describe the transformation you can offer to your dream clients and customers. Then you can appeal to their emotions.
Another effective method of evoking your customers’ emotions is relatable storytelling.
Is effective storytelling dependent on words and actions?
The best words and actions to use for captivating an audience are those that contain humor, belonging, and conflict, but those aren’t the be-all and end-all of your storytelling tactic. Your creativity and witticism are at their best here.
There are numerous options, and the more creative and emotionally charged your content is, the more people will engage with it. However, you must keep in mind to align your content goals with your business objectives.
Are there specific types of content I have to create in order to tell a relatable story?
Of course! Infographics, polls, and inspirational/motivational quotes are good ways to start, then you can move on to case studies, freebies, blog posts, among others.
When your prospects see your brand, create emotion in them every time. This helps your business stand out. People often make purchasing decisions based on emotions and not logic.
Giving consumers a reason to care about your brand will motivate them to purchase from you.
3. A strong brand builds credibility
In the example we’ve given about the two stores, there is a possibility that people may not buy from them due to their absence of reviews and inactivity.
Due to this, their credibility is compromised.
REMEMBER: Credibility comes from having a brand voice and style that are consistent.
In that case, how do I gain credibility in the eyes of my audience?
To begin with, you have to study the trends on social media. You can try on strategic marketing practices such as utilizing available tools and platforms, e.g. Instagram stories, TikTok, holding live streams, uploading user-generated content, just to name a few. It’s a seemingly endless list.
Secondly, you must listen to your followers. For your business to resonate emotionally, you need to know what content is relevant for them as well as how their concerns may be addressed by your products and/or services. It is essential you communicate with your dream client and ensure they get what they want.
With the methods above, you can establish a consistent brand voice and style!
Building a credible brand can be challenging, but it will pay off in the long run. Just think of the greater chance of building a loyal customer base once your business is esteemed. What a pleasant scenario to think about!
4. A strong brand helps you with your marketing efforts
A business that wants to thrive in the modern age needs to understand the concept of branding and determine if said concept can be put into practice.
This is where brand marketing comes in.
Though they sound similar, branding and marketing have their own unique characteristics. When both are combined, they usually overlap and influence each other, but it’s important to recognize their differences for optimal performance.
Branding is how you want your audience to view and differentiate your business.
Marketing focuses on emphasizing the uniqueness of your products and services.
As a whole, brand marketing entails establishing a connection with your audience.
See the combination there?
Marketing may be an easy task for others as a way to improve branding since it calls for creating and posting materials at a surface level. But it actually requires rigorous planning, strategizing, and evaluation. It commands strategic thinking on the best marketing for small businesses.
Since almost everything these days is mediated through online media, you can be more analytical and creative in creating a brand that prospers. A tip we can give is to focus first on the value you bring, brainstorm content ideas, then translate them into engaging visuals.
NOTE: Creating a visual representation of your branding can be challenging (let us know if you need any help with this!), but it’s important to express your content in a visual way so your audience immediately knows exactly what you’re about.
Branding, marketing, and the way you work are all areas where you can be creative. Just make sure to apply the appropriate principles and practices in brand marketing!
5. A strong brand drives revenue
By implementing all the points discussed, you can certainly get your business up for more revenue! This is an automatic yes, so there is no need to think about it.
Online ads are one of the many benefits the internet offers. In contrast to billboards, flyers, and brochures, businesses have the ability to customize their ads and tweak settings in order to increase awareness for their targeted customers.
Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, and Google AdSense are just a few examples.
A great way to drive curiosity and engagement to your business is to use appealing visuals and content for your ads, hence solidifying your brand.
What a powerful tool the internet is!
REMEMBER: Your business’s profitability heavily depends on your ability to build and maintain a powerful brand. Your consistency is at play here.
Feeling apprehensive about improving your brand? Allow us to give you a sense of enlightenment:
Regardless of how small your business is, a strong brand improves the quality of the products and services you offer, making them more appealing to customers. Although you’ll still face competition, having a strong brand can give you a leg up.
It may take a lot of time to answer these questions, but if you start now and put in the time, you’ll save yourself time, gain clarity, and be in a much better position to attract your ideal customers.
These are the 5 reasons why a strong brand is important for your small business.
Has your business considered all these? If not, there’s still time—it’s a process! If you need help with branding and content, feel free to send an inquiry to us!
Related Reads:
8 Ways to Improve Your Brand Perception
Branding 101: How to Create a Strong, Convincing Brand Message
Heads Up, Start-Ups! Marketing Tips for Start-Up Businesses in 2021
Don Derek Rodrigo
Don Derek Rodrigo is a senior studying Communications at Malayan Colleges Laguna. An enthusiast of all forms of media and communication, he is passionate about writing, reading, social media, journalism, digital marketing, and photography, among many others!