Branding 101: How to Brand Your Small Business

Developing a strong brand is a must for small and big businesses alike.

It’s how you bring in new customers, show that you’re trustworthy, and keep them coming back for more. Without it, people wouldn’t be able to tell your business apart from the rest.

Keep reading for a quick course in Branding 101 to pave your path to success.

It’s Not Just a Logo

A common misconception around branding is that the main aspect of it revolves around a logo. In reality, a logo is only a part of the puzzle.

It’s more accurate to think of your brand as the story of your business. It’s not the story of how you started but rather your mission, values, and promises that set you apart from your competitors.

A strong brand allows customers to understand who you are as a business. As a result, they can develop a relationship with it and keep coming back for more.

So, while the logo is an important aspect to consider, there’s much more in developing a solid brand. Your brand should accurately portray itself to your target market so that they can see what makes you special.

Here’s how to go about the process. 

Branding 101: How to Go About It

To tell your business’s story through branding, you’ll first want to identify your objectives, vision, and passion. This gives you a clear direction on how to represent the business and where you’re going with operations.

After these elements are outlined, you’ll want to take a look at your target audience. Understanding them, their desires, and their needs will help you decide how to develop your brand.

Customers make purchases based on who they are and who they want to be. So, it makes sense that they would choose products that align with their values over ones that don’t. 

This is why it’s essential to represent your business with a brand rather than simply offering a product or service. 

Throughout the branding process, you should be as honest and straightforward as possible. Consumers prefer authentic brand personalities on social media and elsewhere. 

In other words: authentic branding is what can set you apart from the competition. 

Elements to Consider

In addition to the intangible aspects of your brand, it’s important to leverage visual materials to your advantage.

This includes:

• A logo
• Brand imagery (e.g. the types of photos used on your website, social media, and so on)
• Branded materials (e.g. labels, business cards, and stationary)
• Aesthetic choices on marketing materials and products (e.g. colors, fonts, and so on)

You’ll incorporate elements of your uniqueness into creating these. Before you begin, you’ll want to develop a branding style guide. This is essentially a pre-set description of the way you’ll visually represent your brand across all mediums.

A style guide creates brand consistency, which in turn generates trust from current and future customers. 

From there, you’ll develop a strategy that outlines how to go about brand representation. This will determine where, how, and when branded messages will be shared. 

Your Brand is the Backbone of Your Business

While this Branding 101 guide highlights key points, it’s only the beginning of this critical conversation.

Contact us so that we can set you on the right track — even if you’re an already established business — without any hassle or missteps.