A lot of youngsters are today gravitating towards start-up businesses instead of jobs. Are you also thinking about starting up your own small business start-up? This is great! Start-ups are the current driving force behind the economy and creating jobs. However, they are facing the dilemma of consistent growth.
The challenges of start-up branding and branding for a small business can be difficult to overcome due to the lack of public recognition. They tend to struggle in becoming well-known in the market and to sustain the growth. This article deals with Creating a brand and strategies for business growth, keeping in mind the barriers to small business growth.
As a small business start-up, you need to consider that branding for a business is not only essential in helping you stand out but will also ensure your survival in the competent economic jungle. Start-ups using an effective and specific marketing strategy for a small business are wise in the market because they ‘know’ their customers’ mind set. Those who are not fully aware of brand marketing, suffer in an attempt to grow their businesses.
We know why your business is suffering. We know branding is tough but we can tell you this, the right kind of brand marketing is going to take your business off the grounds. Creating a brand will help your business grow exponentially, while also guaranteeing its long-term stability and consistency.
The overarching challenge for small businesses is marketing. You can count on one hand the number of small business who got their marketing right. Branding your business is going to give it the voice and feel that will connect it to your audience drawing in their continuing loyalty.
The Whys of Brand Creation
Branding is not a Rolls Royce that has to be earned, rather it is a reputation that you create. Branding for a small business is as essential as all the big brands that you can name from the top of your head. Small businesses need to create a brand to be successful. But branding is not limited to just small business growth, even big successful businesses need an ongoing strategies for business growth to sustain themselves. Branding is as important as the air you breathe. Just like the fish requires air to breathe despite being an aquatic animal, your business needs accurate branding to thrive in a similar economic system with the aid of marketing strategy for a small business. So what is branding for success and what does it mean to brand your business?
To build upon public recognition
The common misconception is that if you are doing business in your niche market you already have an advantage. Wrong! The niche markets are even more competitive than the wider market, therefore company branding becomes even essential to grow your business. It allows you as an owner of your business to stand out on stage in front of a crowd and be noticed.
To stand above the noise
Having competitors is not necessarily a bad thing. Competitors can be the best case study that can allow you to learn the art of standing out and sustain small business growth. They can be utilized to motivate and challenge your unique brand and be a stiletto in a room full of flats. Research suggests that people take only about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) to form an opinion about your website (8ways, 2019), so make sure it’s worth their time.
Keeps your customers coming!
Businesses and customers are the yin and yang of the economy, which is vital for the survival of each other, therefore trust is an asset. Company branding develops and maintains that trust. This trust is what sustains your small business growth and certifies the on-flow of customers.
So we have established that branding is important for all businesses but even more so for small ones. So how can you make sure that your brand stands out in the minds of your customers and helps maintain the growth of business?
How to create a brand that sticks
1. Tell your story
Telling stories is not a luxury. They are something to live and die for. Branding your business makes sure that your business doesn’t just survive, rather it is able to sustain itself in the longer run. Stories give a human side to your otherwise corporate business look and help your customers relate with your brand marketing.
2. Create value for your business and your customers
Your small business marketing plan should be able to empathize with your audience and offer them something that others don’t. When you think about sport shoes, Nike comes to mind. This is not because there are no other sports shoes available, but rather that the Nike brand resonates with your passion.
3- Fulfill your promise
The story that your brand tells, the emotions that your brand creates should lead to the product as well building upon small business marketing plan. The product or service you offer needs to satisfy the customer’s emotional and physical needs. Brands that fail at the product or service side rarely survive. According to a survey, 86% of the customers say that they need to be able to trust the brand they buy from.
Conclusion
A lot of businesses don’t utilize branding for a small business to grow. No matter what your business sells, the first thing that it has to sell is emotion. People tend to buy based on their emotional decisions rather than logical derivations. Your start-up branding has to become a household name, your logo recognizable instantly and your strategy should generate an emotional response. People listen and agree to someone they know more than an advertising campaign. Creating unique brand will ensure that your loyal customers not only remain loyal to you but are also a source of generating business by being brand ambassadors.
