Creative Ways to Promote Brand Identity for Your Small Business
If you wish for anyone to find out about your small business, there are 11 neat techniques to promote brand identity and engage with customers.
Ways to Promote Brand Identity for Your Small Business
For a small business, brand identity is more important than ever. Since entrepreneurs have to fight for a position in the market against well-established brand names, they have to come up with creative ways to stay relevant to your customers and raise brand awareness.
Blogs Present a Marketing Opportunity
You know your customers the best and can probably guess pretty accurately which online blogs they like to read. Blog posts that are appealing to your customers are ideal for backlinking to your website, so work with blog owners to promote your business through their posts. You should start writing a blog about your business. This way, you have a chance to promote your business globally, which is a great way to prepare for future expansions.
Tête-à-Tête Meeting with Your Customers
Chitchatting or small talk has a distinctive social role aimed at establishing a close relationship with someone. Entrepreneurs have become so engulfed with balance sheets and tax reports that they have forgotten how to talk to their clients or business partners.
Tête-à-tête communication shouldn’t be underestimated in the modern business world. The next time you run into a client or a potential business partner, take the time to chitchat with them, asking them how they were and leisurely mentioning what your brand has to offer.
Always Carry a Business Card
Once you decide that you are going to talk to customers and partners face to face, you have to be presentable. Although they seem a bit outdated, business cards haven’t died out. Business people no longer use them to share contact info (the website does that part) but they are still a tangible tool to make sure people remember both you and your company.
Sponsor Events
When we see ads on stadiums, we know that those companies coughed out great sums of money for those banners. However, sponsoring a local team, local initiative, or an event isn’t as expensive as you might think. On the other side, you get free media exposure and your visual brand can establish its identity in the local community. This is ideal for brick-and-mortar businesses that depend on local customers and foot traffic in the retail store.
Use “Limited Time Offer Expires Soon”
Shoppers are used to seasonal discounts. For example, a person wanting to buy a pair of sneakers for summer knows that that item will probably on discount during winter. However, your business cannot rely on such scheduled sales, as you need to shake up the market with a limited offer. The discount is going to be greater than the one offered by the competition but time-limited in nature. A weekend sale with as much as 50% off could generate enough revenue to keep you in the green for the whole month.
Branded Freebies
People love a good bargain but they love even more free stuff. That’s why you should make a habit of giving out branded freebies. Your company logo can go on a lot of stuff: pens, hats, mugs, T-shirts, key chains, and even personalised bean bags that can sit in front of the store.
Open and Manage Social Media Accounts
We probably don’t have to tell you that building a brand identity on social media networks is a must. However, you need to pick carefully which platforms you are going to join. Since all accounts have to be updated with novel content regularly, you shouldn’t stretch your social media resources too much.
Depending on your region, four to five networks (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.) are enough to start with. Furthermore, be ready to provide customer care for all the platforms you are present at. A message on Viber or WhatsApp is a more efficient form of communication than an e-mail or a phone call.
Excellent Customer Service is a Must!
Speaking of customer service, there is nothing worse than a disgruntled customer or client. Once the word spreads that your customer support agents are rude or disinterested, people will start giving your brand a wide berth.
Word of mouth recommendations is still one of the best ways to increase sales and make your brand heard of, so make sure you provide excellent customer service. This is paramount, as your competitors have already hired experienced agents, so you don’t want to lag.
Ignore the Competitors
As we have already pointed out, the main reason why building brand identity is so important is to distinguish you from and stay ahead of your competitors. You need to come up with a unique value proposition that would make the shoppers opt for your brand in the sea of other labels and manufacturers.
The best way to achieve this is to completely ignore your compatriots and their marketing strategies. This will allow you to focus on promoting your own brand and not trying to ape someone else’s ad campaign that might turn out to be counterproductive for your business.
A QR Code is a Big Help
The QR code as we know it today appeared around 2015. It soon became a powerful marketing tool as it is easy to scan but not as damage-prone as the standard barcode. QR (Quick Response) code allows people to access your website or Facebook page in a matter of seconds.
Whenever you display the company logo, be sure that there is a QR code nearby. The code can be printed on the complementary free merchandise we mentioned earlier.
The Power of Genuine Testimonials
We still remember the Yelp scandal involving fake reviews a few years back. Fake testimonials and reviews are still a problem in the digital marketing industry. However, this only adds weight to genuine testimonials of satisfied customers.
Your marketing department should contact current and former clients to write social media posts about those interested in sharing their success stories with the online community. Once a prospective client reads (or even better, watches) a testimonial on your website, they will be more inclined to ask for a quote, if nothing else.
Ways to Promote Brand Identity
Promoting brand identity lies at the heart of any small business’s day-to-day operations. The business owner and/or the marketer have to constantly find creative ways to get the brand’s name and logo out there. The more familiar buyers are with your brand, the more likely they are to do business with you.
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