If you’re running a small business, chances are you don’t have a huge marketing budget and you’re probably making most of your decisions with the resources you currently have at hand.
If you’re in the second category and really want to build your brand, I’ll show you the 10 inspiring ways to build a brand that captivates your audience without breaking your bank.
1) Have a strong purpose
Most people start a business with the hope of making money. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not the right reason to start a business.
The most successful brands have a purpose. They don’t just make products, they make meaning.
That’s why you need to find your brand’s purpose and let it guide everything you do.
2) Know your audience
We are all in the business of serving others. We all have customers, clients, and users that we work for.
But how well do we really know them?
When you know your audience, you can serve them better.
It’s not just about understanding who your customers are — it’s about having a deeper understanding of who they are.
If you know your audience, you can:
- predict their needs and wants
- create products and services that meet those needs and wants
- build relationships with them
- help them solve problems before they have to ask for help
3) Know your competitors
“Know about competitors more than you know about yourself” – Sun Tzu
Competition is a part of business. It’s the reason why we are always looking for ways to improve and beat the competition.
It’s important to know your competitors more than you know about yourself. You need to know what they’re doing and how it affects your business.
Here are some ways to gather information about your competitors:
- Look at their website, social media pages and blogs.
- Search for them on Google and see what comes up first when searching for their brand name or product name.
- See what customers are saying about them online
- Read industry publications that cover their company or industry
- Ask around — talk with people who have done business with them in the past
4) Being consistent in the way you communicate
If you’re looking to grow your business, it’s important to be consistent in how you speak to your customers on a regular basis.
Your customers are human beings. If they’re used to hearing one thing from you, but then suddenly hear something else, it can throw them off and make them question whether or not they can trust what you’re saying.
One of the best ways to overcome this issue is by creating a brand voice that feels familiar and inviting, so your target audience can recognize themselves in what you have to say.
Your brand voice should be clear and easy-to-understand—no jargon allowed! It should also reflect who you are as a business, while still sounding like an approachable person who they’d like to spend time with.
5) Stay true to your promise
A business needs to stay true to its customers, and it needs to stay true to its promise to them. Don’t overpromise, and don’t make promises you can’t keep.
It’s tempting to make a lot of promises when you first start a business. You want to show off all of the great things that your company can do, but you don’t want anyone else doing it better than you.
But this is where things can go wrong: if you promise too much and then fail at delivering on those promises, or if you deliver something that isn’t what your customers were expecting, then they will be disappointed.
Having said that, your job as a brand is not just to sell products; it’s also about building relationships with your customers and earning their trust so that they keep coming back for more.
6) Staying focused on vision and mission
You’re not in this alone.
You have a team of people who believe in you, and who want to help you reach your goals. But sometimes, it’s easy to get distracted by all the noise and forget that there’s a reason why you started this company in the first place.
It can be hard to stay focused on your vision and mission when people are trying to convince you that this isn’t what they want, or they’re asking for things that don’t fit into your vision.
You know what your customers want and need better than anyone else does—so stay focused on that. Believe in yourself and your vision. And most importantly, believe in what you stand for—it’s what makes your business unique!
7) Spread your brand story
Know your story and believe in it.
If you want to grow your business, you need to share your story. People love stories, and they buy from people who share them.
I’m not saying that you should be constantly talking about your business—I’m saying that the best way to connect with customers is by showing them who you are, what it means to be a part of your team, and why they should buy from you instead of someone else.
So if you haven’t already started telling your own story, what are you waiting for? Get started today!
Why does brand storytelling matter?
Check this article to read about some of the ways that good storytelling can change your company for the better.
8) Talk about the benefits and not features
When you’re marketing your business, it’s tempting to focus on the features of your product or service. But what does that get you?
It gets you a list of things your product can do—and a list of things it can’t do.
That’s not what customers want. They don’t care about your product’s features; they care about its benefits.
When you market with benefits, you’re talking about what your product does for them, how it makes them feel, and why they should choose your brand over another one offering similar products or services.
For example: “Our shampoo is sulfate-free and made with organic ingredients.” It’s true that this is an important feature of our shampoo—but it doesn’t tell the whole story. What matters more is how we make sure our customers feel when they use our products, and how much they get out of using them every day (or once in a while).
9) Be your brand’s biggest advocate.
You are your brand’s biggest advocate.
You know that, right?
It’s your job to remind everyone else that you’re the best thing. You’ve got to be the one who talks about your brand in every conversation, who gets excited when someone mentions it, who claims it as your own. If you don’t do it, who will?
That doesn’t mean you have to be self-centred or boastful—it just means that you have to be honest and genuine about what makes your company so awesome.
It means being proud of yourself, of your team, and of the work you do. It means making sure that people know that they’re working with a company they can trust because they believe in themselves.
10) Bring in people who have similar beliefs and values.
“Great things in person are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs
Yes, that comes from someone who knew the art of building a great brand way back when branding was just known to many present-day entrepreneurs.
If you believe in the mission that you are working towards, it is important that the people around you support you equally and they also believe in your vision & mission. Because, ultimately, they are the ones who face your customers in helping you deliver the products or services to them.
You should educate and train your team to be able to build the brand in the right way to achieve your business goals.
Final thoughts.
Every single person who has a business or is working with a brand (be it an individual, a corporation or an organization) understands the importance of brand building. It’s such a bigger part of work and business in general these days.
But what are the right steps to make sure that your brand is built the right way? And how can you ensure that you create something that will be memorable and will haunt the customers’ minds for a long time?
I hope that after reading this post you will have a better understanding of how to build a brand that inspires and connects with your audience, resulting in a strong brand image and a business that benefits from this relationship. Your brand does not have to be perfect, but it has to be authentic, true to its core values, unique and most importantly concrete.
