How branding your business is perceived to your market and competitors

Do you think that branding is only for large corporations with serious bucks to spend on their advertising & marketing? No way! It doesn’t matter what size your business is, you should have a recognisable brand that sets you apart from your competitors and gives clients/perspective clients the perception of who you are and what you’re business stands for.  Here I will discuss the importance of branding and how to make it easier deciding exactly what image you want to portray to the world.

Your brand is more than what your logo, business card or website. It’s the identity of the company you want to portray to the world. It tells people what your business is about, what you do and even gives them an insight on what sort of person you are. It builds credibility within the marketplace and in time, will be recognisable as the symbol you portray. A great example is Nike, with their famous tick. These business have been around long enough so they don’t have to let the world know their name, it’s evident by a simple symbol. This is the most powerful marketing around.

In the beginning, concentrate on direct response marketing….

What I mean by this is because in the beginning, your brand is virtually unknown to others. Big names like Nike & Coke a Cola only need to create awareness by their “brand” not the product they are selling. This is because those companies have been around for such a long period of time and are instantly recognisable for consumers. Branding is too broad for the small to medium business owners. Direct response marketing is anything that will initiate a reaction to your audience (such as purchasing your product, going to your website, calling you for information) It’s very important to do this the right way and that means, writing amazing copy that entices people to respond. In order to do this, you must know what your unique selling difference is, and position the message to your audience (your niche) and await the response.

You have to differentiate yourself in the marketplace to provide specific needs to your niche. A good way of doing this is providing your customers with some sort of guarantee. The best way to do this is to ask your customers/perspective customers, what really fires them up the wrong way when it comes to people in your industry. If you’re a hairdresser, perhaps your customer may tell you they really don’t like waiting longer than ½ hour after their appointment to get their hair done. Or maybe if you own a food outlet, perhaps what people may dislike the most is waiting more than 2 minutes to be served by a staff member. They hairdresser could have a guarantee of perhaps “if you wait longer than ½ an hour from your appointment time, you receive a free hair style and blow dry”. For the food outlet maybe you could say, “If you wait longer than 2 minutes to be served by our staff, you will receive free coffee or drink of your choice”.  People love this and feel appreciated. After all, we are all pressed for time, and there is nothing worse than having someone cut into your time without an apology.

By doing this, you set yourself apart in the industry and will build word of mouth referrals as well as loyal customers and revenue for your business. You have to think to yourself, why am I unique at what I do and how can I provide that to my customers now and in the future. Simply saying you are great doesn’t mean a thing. It’s when other people say you’re great that really matters.

Do you want something extra? A bit of BONUS information?

The best bonus I can tell you is to utilise your social media networks in the most effective way. Facebook is not only for teenagers; it’s also made for building your credibility and your business? Don’t believe me? Look at the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk. After primarily utilizing traditional advertising techniques to build his family’s local wine business into a national industry leader, Gary rapidly leveraged social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook to promote Wine Library TV, his video blog about wine. As his viewership swelled to over 80,000 a day, doors opened to a book deal, several national TV appearances, and a flurry of speaking engagements around the world. To find out how he did it, you can purchase his book called “CRUSH IT”. I highly recommend it.

I trust this has been an informative piece for you and I look forward to providing you with the best value possible in regards to your business. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions on angela@createyourbrandcoaches.com, or visit my website on www.createyourbrandcoaches.com for a FREE e book, just for you.