Marketing 360® did two Thank Tanks on building a small business brand:

Here is a review that will help you gain perspective on what branding is for your SMB in 2017.

 

Logos and Design

When most people think of branding, they think of logos, taglines, and design:  the brand image.

This is definitely a part of branding.  You want a professional, consistent design you can use for your marketing collateral.

However, it’s arguable that with digital marketing, logos and design are actually the least important factor when it comes to building a brand identity.

You know Nike’s logo.  You know Target or probably Amazon by their logos.

But be honest.  How many small businesses or niche eCommerce sites do you know by their logo?  How many can you picture?  When was the last time you visited a website and thought, These guys have a great logo, I think I’ll hire them? 

In SMB verticals, your logo and design make an impression.  A tagline might communicate part of your value proposition.  Consistent use of color and design will become familiar to your loyal customers.  You want to do these things right.

But clever, consistent design is only the beginning of what’s needed to create a brand identity.

Nobody’s going to remember you just because you have a cool logo that matches the colors on your website.  Today, it takes more.

 

Knowing Your Value

So if your logo isn’t the main part of your brand, what is?  What are people going to talk about?

Think about your value proposition.

How well do you understand your value offering and its unique place in your industry?  Do you understand the challenges your customers are facing and how your product helps them overcome them?

When your customers talk to their friends about you, what will they say?

If your logo is the packaging, your value offering is what actually comes in the box.  It’s how you make a difference in your client’s lives.  It’s how you solve problems.  It’s the reason people spend their hard earned money on your solution.

You cannot have a strong brand identity today without a clear value proposition that both you and your customers understand.

To have branding, you need people to talk about you.  What they’ll talk about is how you make their lives better.  Without that, nobody will be saying anything.

 

Story and Voice

Even if you have a clear value proposition, you may have trouble establishing a brand identity without a storyline backed by a unique brand voice.

When we talk about digital branding collateral, we’re not just talking about your website and brochure.

Your marketing crosses dozens of platforms, including all social media channels, review websites, blogs, industry forums, and Youtube.  A logo and one-line call to action are not enough to create content across all these mediums.

Your business needs to have a brand voice; a personality that makes your communication interesting and turns your value proposition into a story that connects to your customers’ lifestyles.   This story is what unfolds across your social media channels.

Here Saddleback leather weaves their brand voice into their contact us page:

 

But today, your story isn’t just words.  Tensile is a company that makes tree tents and hammock stands.  There is a clear story told on their Instagram page:

With these images, you get a powerful sense of who their customers are and how they use these products to live out adventurous lives.  The voice of travel, love of the outdoors, freedom, relaxation – all come through in the brand voice of these images.

Without a story to tell and a sense of your business’ personality, you’ll have a tough time creating a brand identity that connects with modern, social media-savvy audiences.

 

Marketing Your Brand

The last thing – alluded to several times in the Think Tanks – is more tactical.

To have a great brand, people need to know you exist.  You have to get their attention and entice them to follow you.

A great deal of digital marketing (in particular social media marketing) is about creating brand awareness.  It’s using every marketing and advertising channel you can to get your message in front of the right people.

And it’s about repeating that process.  Retargeting ads are branding.   All the social media content you create – most of which has no sales pitch – is branding.  Doing SEO on your informational blog posts is branding.

When you have professional collateral, a clear value proposition, a story with voice, and the tactics to reach the right audience,  you’ll create a strong brand identity.

At its most fundamental, branding is about making a connection between your company and a consumer audience who believes what you believe.

Branding is not about what you do or how you do it, but why.  It’s why your customers care, and why they trust you.

When you make that trusted connection, your customers will help you tell your story because they are a part of it.

When that happens you’ll know your branding is really working to grow your business.