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Today, the world of business is more competitive than ever. Anyone can take a quick glance at a search engine and be bombarded with a sea of companies offering similar services to one another. While this may be disheartening to small business owners; Creating a powerful brand will play a significant part in helping you stand out from the crown. Establishing a recognizable brand image will help you connect with the right customers and keep them coming back time and time again. Here’s how you can start building a powerful brand from today:
Work on Brand Recognition
Brand recognition is crucial to any business, large or small. You want people to associate words, colors and symbols with your company so that there is instant recognition and association with the goods and services you provide. Once you’re happy with the way your brand looks, it’s time to splash it out there to make sure that it’s seen by your target audience. Prominent signage, a stunning website, branded corporate gifts, traditional advertising, staff uniforms, business collaterals and other media can be an excellent place to start this process.
Audit Your Competition
When you’re confident in your business, it’s easy to exist in a bubble and remain oblivious to your competition. However, every successful business owner has gotten where they are today by keeping a close eye on their rivals. Delve deeply into all the companies offering similar products and services to you and identify their strengths and weaknesses. Use this information to improve your brand and identify gaps in the market so that you can incorporate service offerings or value-added features that they lack into your own business and gain market share.
Ask the Pros
When you’re looking to improve brand recognition, it can be challenging to come up with new ideas when you’re bogged down the day-to-day running of your business and the seemingly endless list of mundane tasks that this involves. After all, one person can only do so much! Don’t be afraid to look for assistance outside of your firm if you’re struggling to build a brand. Business advisors, while sometimes expensive can view your business with objective eyes, identify where you’re making mistakes, and highlight opportunities to broaden your reach.
Don’t DIY
Before you try to create a new business logo in a Word document, step back and take a minute to think of the potential implications. If there’s any area of your business you shouldn’t handle yourself, it’s the design (unless you’re a graphic designer, of course). Remember, your branding can make or break your business. If your logo looks amateur, people will see your business in the same negative light. Therefore, rather than making a costly mistake, outsource your branding and do it correctly the first time.
Know Your Market
If you’re trying to build a powerful brand, it’s essential to know who you’re trying to attract. If you don’t establish a clear target market, you run the risk of appealing to no one at all. Before overhauling your website and commissioning a new logo design, work out who makes up the majority of your clientele and base your new branding on this business intelligence.
Building a powerful brand doesn’t happen overnight, even if the business idea is solid. Instead, it takes help from experts, knowing your competition, and identifying your market. Once you tick those boxes, you’ll be well on your way to developing a meaningful corporate image that will resonate with your target audience.