An Introduction to Small Business Branding
THE GOAL
Are you an entrepreneur or small business owner? Or are you about to be? Well MV Create is here to help you to create a brand and website that will reflect your values, resonate with your audience and... ultimately... help to drive your sales growth!
Starting a new business can often feel overwhelming, with a seemingly endless list of things on your 'to do' list. Our aim is to SAVE YOU TIME and help get you off to a good start. We want to help you to ensure that your business comes across as professional and that it stands out from the crowd. We want you to LOVE your business and be passionate about its personality and its values. We want to help you to gain SUCCESS. As a result, we have pulled together some handy branding tips to guide you along your journey.
GET, SET, GO!
You may be wondering what all this "branding" fuss is about... you have a rough logo, you have set up a facebook page and you're ready to sell your product or service... so what are you waiting for? Why not just get stuck in and get promoting your business? Surely it will be quicker, easier and make less of a fuss? Easy - right? No! DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME!
If you launch in a half-hearted and unprepared way, you will risk looking mediocre to your customers , you won't stand out and you'll get very little traction. You'll constantly post in the hope that you'll attract customers and it will feel like an uphill battle. Most likely making you feel deflated and exhausted from all of the wasted time and energy that you have invested.
So why would this be the case? Well, the simple fact is that you will have failed to consider some key areas. Areas that will have formed part of a brandstrategy, should you have spent the time creating one. Let's take a look...
COMMON PITFALLS
Trust
What makes you buy from someone? Do you buy from just anyone? And how can you be sure that you get what you pay for? TRUST.
You buy, because you trust that business. Without trust, you won’t make a purchase. So how you expect to get lots of business if you haven’t done anything to build that trust?
You need to prove to a client that you are a safe pair of hands and that they can put their faith in you. How do you do that? You build a great brand that looks professional and long-lasting , a brand where it’s clear that you care about your reputation…
Consistency
If you want your target audience, your customer, to be clear on what you are offering, you need to be consistent in what you put out there on your website and in your social media. Having a clear brand, a consistent theme, consistent messaging and a consistent tone of voice, will make you look professional and it will make you memorable.
Competition
One of the challenges that you will face won’t be just getting customers, it will be standing out from the competition. How will you be different? Why should someone choose you rather than another company or consultant? You need to make your business stand out, to make it more compelling and appealing than the competition so that the choice is CLEAR to the customer. Make them want to pick YOU!!!
PLAN FOR SUCCESS
There are three main branding steps for when you’re creating and running your small business. Let's take a look at a few of the things that you will need to consider for each one of them.
Brand Strategy
Brand Identity
Brand Marketing
GOOD LUCK!
We hope that our tips have been of use and will help you to get started on your journey. We have also included a free tick list below that may come in handy!
If you have any more questions or would like some advice please don't hesitate to email us at hello@mvcreate.co.uk.