Branding Design as an initial impression would seem to be an expensive process for any business. Due to this, many people associate branding with only top names in any industry. Like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nike, Starbucks and you know the names.
Well, in reality, this is not always the case. In fact, with proper research and thought you can also successfully establish a brand at low and affordable costs. I agree that branding costs money and not all small businesses are in a position to spend much capital just for the sake of branding. And it is understood that these small businesses do not have huge investments or funds to spend on.
In this case, there are few branding strategies that small businesses can adopt which in turn are literally inexpensive. So, in this article, we will look at a few of the best inexpensive and affordable branding strategies for small businesses. With that out of the way, let’s get started.
1. Register your business on Google :
One of the prime reasons and success mantra for any business is trust. In cases, when you refer some business name to your friends or relatives’ network then there are low chances of them opting for that business. Well, it is not like that you explained them halfway or just for your sake.
But they do not build trust just from your word of mouth. Word of mouth is a great marketing strategy and it works positively only when this wording comes from a trusted source. And in terms of trusted sources on the entire internet, you would not find a better option than Google. Thus, go with Google and use it to expand your business.
Moreover, Google has quite great offerings in favor of small businesses. First of all, if you have a physical office then add it to Google Maps with proper information. Be its official name, working hours, services offered, or so on. In further steps, you can register your business under the Google My Business app with standard and minimum charges.
Finally, do note that only registering is not all done. Indeed, it your consistency which matters a lot. This is why be consistent and genuine with all the information that you put on the internet regarding your business. Overall, the help of Google is the right step in branding for any small business.
2. Take Advantage of Social Media :
Talking about the internet, in the modern world, social media is the big thing. Now that we are able to communicate from different parts of the world, the credit surely goes to social media. And as a matter of fact, you personally do spend at least a couple of hours of your day on different social media platforms.
Considering the strong user base and easy-to-learn techniques why can’t you take your small business to social media and have a wider coverage. Correspondingly, make sure that you take the best possible advantages of social media.
To begin with, just create an account on different social media platforms and this marks the first step of your branding. Next up, make sure that you post relatable and interesting content of your business in form of images, gifs, videos, etc.
Moreover, you can run a particular hashtag that stays common to all of your posts. Lastly, make sure that you remember the target audience for your business and design the content related to that.
Also, if you have any gifts or companions to offer then you might even conduct a massive giveaway through all of your accounts. By doing so, creates a buzz for your business and will help you gain a strong user base for further business. In the same light as Google, be consistent in social media teams regarding new announcements, replies to your customer’s queries, and others.
3. Build an official website :
Now another great and effective way of branding is to build an official website. In the view of users’ website should be such a place where any newcomer interested in your business can get the correct information.
Also, make sure that you pick a domain name relatable to your business name and designing the website in a clean and attractive manner. Now that you have to build a website that’s not enough in the true sense.
To emphasize, you need to constantly work on your website and think about various ways to make it better. First of all, to gather new users through your website you can publish blogs that relate and mark to your business. Moving on, you can even make a subscription-based newsletter to attract them to visit your website consistently.
In the end, make sure that you post true information regarding all of your products in a simple and easy-to-understand form. After all, if any user wants to seek information about your product then they will definitely visit your website and this is where things should be transparent and good to knowledge.
4. Make your ads associative to common people :
Not just words and specs on the website, also associative and interactive ads from your business make a lot of difference. With the context of the advertisement, many businesses match it with spending on brand ambassadors, technical team, locations, etc.
On the contrary, your ads after all should feel relatable to the common people and their daily lives. It is true that you should present all of your exclusive features as a process of branding. But make sure that you represent the same in a more friendly and associative manner.
For instance, consider Google Pay, they never showcase the offers, rewards, cash back, and other stuff in their commercials. In fact, they just create an environment that seems relatable to the daily life of you and me. Thereby cleverly include Google Pay as an important manner in your daily routine life.
Hence, you got the idea. Just research a little and create such content in your commercial ads that include a factor related to daily lives. The major payoff with this method is that viewers feel and associate your business as right in their lives and it leads to effective branding.
5. Appreciate Customers Feedback :
In simple words, the customer is the central part of your business. No matter how much you spend on different branding techniques if you fail to receive your customers then all of your efforts are of no use. This is why you should pay special attention to your customers.
Just consider that you have recently launched a new product into the market and it is doing pretty well. Sooner or later as customers start using it there may be some possibilities that some of them face few issues with the same.
In such a scenario make sure that you receive the feedback of your customers on a positive note. There may be some sort of error that happened either from your side or from the users’ side. Just invest some time and analyze the actual errors or issues that were being faced by the customers. And with the meantime compensate the affected customers with some of the other sorts of things.
6. Create your brand identity :
Straightaway, in the context of branding strategies, this step is one of the most important ones. In order to begin with the branding, your particular business should have a brand identity. Now, brand identity is the face of your business.
In the process of elaborating things, brand identity can be achieved in various forms. These include logo creation, website design, the packaging design of your products, business cards, and many more. One thing to note in every form of brand identity is to maintain the common point among all the mediums.
These parameters can be anything. Be it your business logo, taglines, or just the way of a font of colors that you follow. It has to be the same throughout the lot of your brand identity. To sum up, brand identity is the place where the planning of branding for your business even small businesses should start from.
Closing Words :
In conclusion, you have got few ideas that you need to work on to convert your small business into a complete brand with branding. With all the things considered, it is pretty clear that you should begin from the base foundation i.e., brand identity.
And frankly speaking, I have included this point at the very last intentionally. Now in order to create an identity and brand for your business, you ultimately require a professional graphic designer. Because remember, you are not the master of all the trades.
Also, read more to help you choose the right graphic designer and tips to improve your decision.
On that note, make sure you visit my graphic design company and my work profile here to know better. Looking forward to working with you on the graphic designing needs and let’s design something great together!
