Branding for the Small Business: A Guide to Creating Your Company's Identity

Branding is one of the most esoteric and confusing terms, even for those who have actually studied marketing. The American Marketing Association defines a brand as the “name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”

While that seems simple enough, a brand is about connecting your business to consumers not only on a physical level (by identifying a product) but on an emotional level as well. In this article, I’ll take you through a simple 4 step process to creating a brand as a small business.

Step 1. Brand Positioning 

Brand positioning is a process of understanding the target market and defining the space that your brand occupies in the minds of customers. It is also about understanding who you are as a company and what you want to be known for.

The first step in developing a strong brand position is research. This includes customer research and competitive research, where companies learn about their customers’ needs and wants, as well as the features and benefits of competing products or services.

After conducting this research, companies can develop differentiators that set them apart from their competition. They may also identify target markets for their product or service based on their findings in the customer and competitive research phase.

A good positioning statement provides an insight into what makes your brand unique and sets it apart from competitors. Here’s a handy formula to help you out:

WE HELP [AUDIENCE] WHO [CHANLLENGES/PAIN POINT] TO ACHIEVE/EXPERIENCE [KEY BENEFIT] UNLIKE [COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVE], OUR SOLUTION [UNIQUE POINT OF DIFFERENCE]

Step 2. Brand Promise

A brand promise explains what a customer may anticipate from a company at all points of contact. It acts as a firm's core value and influences everything the organization does, from messaging to customer service.

Your company's brand promise should be constant as it expands and grows. Think of positioning as the fertile soil that allows a brand to sprout, develop, and thrive. The brand promise is the fruit or physical benefit that makes the product or service appealing.

What promises do you make to your customers? A brand promise must accomplish the following 3 objectives:

• It needs to communicate a strong benefit. 
• It has to be genuine and honest. 
• It has to be kept at all times.

Here is Formula for crafting the Brand Promise: 

BRAND POSITIONING + VISION + VALUE PROPOSITION = BRAND PROMISE

Step 3. Brand Messaging

The brand message is how your brand conveys its unique value proposition and personality through verbal marketing and imagery. You also want to inject some personality for your brand that influences your messages.

For example, if your brand was a person, if they cared about the “environment” would they do this? Are they motivated by public service or philanthropy? This also influences your brand voice or the tone the company “speaks” in, whether it be serious, helpful, or even funny.


Unsure if your messaging is correct? Review your brand messaging that speaks for the whole business and check the following criteria:

• Does the brand message offer or differentiate you from the competition?
• Is your message clear and beneficial?
• Is your message realistic? It’s ok to be aspirational but it needs to be plausible.
• Does the message strike a chord with your audience? Is there anything intriguing about it?

Step 4. Brand Identity

Up to this point, it’s been very strategic and cerebral. Now we have to craft the brand identity. What is the brand identity? These are visual characteristics of a brand, such as color, design, and logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in the eyes of customers.

Consider what role you want images to have in your company when choosing them.

• Will it have a strong visual impact? 
• Will it make you stand out? 
• Will it convey the personality of your company? 
• Will it help you spread your message? 

When it comes to images, you have a few choices:

• Are they photos or illustrations?
• Are they representational or abstract? 
• Are they conceptual or literal?
• Are they going to be stock or bespoke? 

The more money you spend on graphics, the more distinctive your brand will be. If you must use low-cost stock photos, at least strive to differentiate yourself from your competition.

Conclusion

Branding your business is an investment and should be considered as you are starting your business, not as an afterthought. Remember corporations can spend thousands or millions of dollars to create, develop and maintain a brand. You as the small business owner should not need to spend that much, but be judicious with how you need to differentiate your business from your competitors.

Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.