As a small business owner, you know the feeling: getting customers is the single most important task on your to-do list.
Having a strong brand is the bedrock of building a strong business. In this blog post, we’ll look at the importance of branding if you’re a small to medium-sized enterprise and how improving your company’s identity can change its perception and fortunes.
Recognition
A clear advantage of branding is that it gives customers and potential customers a way to remember you and your services.
Companies around the world have benefited from distinctive branding elements like unique logos, colour schemes and more. Coca-Cola, for example, is known for its red cans, while Apple will forever be associated with the fruit that appears on the front of all its products.
As a small business, why not borrow some tips from the big beasts? By having a memorable, professionally-designed logo or by harmonising your colour scheme, customers in your niche will subconsciously start to associate you with the product or service you provide.
Take it to customers
In order for your customers to feel the power of your brand, you need to get it in front of them by placing the features of it where they are.
This means that your logo, colour scheme and tone of voice should be harmonised across all places that your company’s name appears. Online, that means using the same features on your Facebook cover photo as you do on your Pinterest page or your website, and if you advertise in local newspapers or magazines you should make sure your branding is similar there.
Of course, you can adjust for context-dependent needs such as size – but the fundamentals of the design should always stay the same. Staying consistent with your brand will subtly remind potential customers that you are organised and professional – traits which inspire confidence and drive sales further down the line.
Long-term associations
Once you’ve unleashed the power of effective branding by setting up that all-important association in the minds of your customer base, it’s time to do something to harness it for the longer term.
This is where durable and long-lasting brand options come into play. If you’re running an event or holding a sale in your shop, for example, why not remind customers or visitors of the fun experience they had with a stylish, branded piece of merchandise?
It is exceptionally important for small businesses to boost the power of their branding as it is important for a fledgling enterprise’s development and growth, and bespoke printed and plastic bags are a prime example of a durable and reusable branding option.
Canvas bags, for example, are a popular choice for many brands. Investing in some personalised, branded bags and using them as promotional free gifts or low-cost items in your store can pay repeated dividends, as customers are happy to carry them in their day-to-day lives – providing your brand with repeated, free exposure up and down the high street and around the aisles of the supermarket.
