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How to create a brand for you and your business

5th Apr 2016
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Marketing and branding is just as important for the SME and professional services organisations as it is for the high street and online brands.

Branding is important for any business, but whilst many of us understand the need to market 'ourselves' and company products and service, few understand how to do it effectively.

It is well known that successful businesses tend to have a strong brand, in other words, an image that they have created which is synonymous with that brand.

Branding isn't just giving out business cards at a networking event or having creative stationery it is about having branding at the heart of the business. So much so that the brand is more prominent than the actual company name. 

Branding is how you define 'yourself' and your business and how that is perceived externally by your customers, suppliers and stakeholders.

In essence branding is about business identity and should embody the core of the business and the people, its values, its principles the very reason it lives and breathes.

If your customers can connect with your brand personally or to the company because they share the same values and beliefs then this results in more sales, loyalty and ultimately them becoming advocates for you and your business.

How do you define your brand?

1. Start by defining what it is your business or you stand for. Look at the products and services, establish if there are any niche markets that haven't yet been plugged, look at your audience, how do they connect with you and your business? What do they buy? Is there any product differentiation from your competitors? Why do they choose you?

2. Customers ask me, Caroline, we want to build or develop our brand not just for the business but for our sales people. I am not a marketing expert but I can tell you that each and everyone of us has our own set of values, beliefs and principles that sets us apart. Does your business emulate that? Do your employees feel the same way as you do about your business? If they don't, then it is up to you to educate them and make sure they understand what the business stands for and what it's core beliefs are.

3. What does the business stand for? Why did you set it up? What is the identity of the business and you? And, how can customers become emotionally attached so they want to buy or work with you? Customers buy on emotion, how do they feel about doing business with you? They are buying skill, confidence and expertise so make sure that whatever your business stands for is reflected in its brand.

4. Long term customer relationships are what we all want. Having customers that repeatedly come back to buy more is the best endorsement of your brand it means you are doing something right. Be honest and transparent about what the business offers, stay true to its values and don't make promises that are impossible to keep.

5. Be consistent. Your brand is all about being consistent, in the way the company is perceived externally, how it delivers the services and how you respond to your customers. This ensures customers know what to expect from you.

6. What adverts do you see on the television that drive you insane after you've seen them for the tenth time or simply stop being funny after you've heard it three times? Branding works in much the same way. Constantly repeating the same message is boring. Don't repeat the same message in the same way time and time again. AIm to make your marketing messages relevant but different.

7. Faced with so many brands online and in the high street, SME's could be forgiven for trying to adopt an 'act big attitude'. Establishing your own identity whether big or small is more personal and emotional than pretending to be something the company isn't. If you are a small accountancy or law practice then use that as your selling point big might be beautiful but small can be just as effective.

8. Be bold and responsive don't be afraid to change niche or markets to attract a different audience as long as you follow the rules of branding. Large brands are encumbered with bureaucratic decision makers which makes them less responsive this means that SME's can be quick to react and make changes to an ever changing audience.

9. When you communicate with your customers maintaining your brand, core values and principles essentially means you are offering more so discounting your products or services is a no no. 

10. Aim to build a little mystic around you and your business, advertising everywhere and on everything sounds desperate and people easily get bored. How does the same email marketing message for the tenth time in the same day make you feel? If you've got something interesting to say share it online or via direct mail but keep it relevant and remember the audience can tire quickly if they repeatedly see the same old boring messages.

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By Rosecolin
15th Apr 2016 12:07

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