Branding is important. Managing your brand offline and online is not a small thing, but if done well, you can reduce your marketing costs and grow your revenues. The more consistent you are with your branding components the more likely someone is to recognize your brand. There are 8 key elements of a small business brand:
- Company Name
- Logo
- Color story
- Tagline
- Fonts
- Brand Promise
- Website
- Social Media Profiles
While most of these elements are straight forward, slogan and brand promise are often confusing. A tagline is what you want to be known for in the marketplace. It’s a slogan used in conjunction with your brand. A tagline is often catchy and fun, but it might not be specific to your value proposition. Your brand promise is the statement you make to your customers about what they can expect from every interaction with your brand. Sometimes your slogan can reinforce your brand promise. Branding increases company visibility online by over 400%. That translates to more traffic to your physical store which will absolutely convert into sales.
However, if you’re not executing your brand consistently, poor branding leads to confusion and missed opportunities. When people aren’t clear on what you do, you won’t easily close business or generate referrals. Customer acquisition costs skyrocket. All the while, you continue to try branding the wrong way, costing you more.
One of the top issues that small businesses face is brand inconsistency. Do you have a professional logo? Color story? Is your logo on everything? I’ve partnered with Deluxe Corporation to help you understand all the ways you can brand your business and grow your sales. You might know Deluxe as a resource for checks, but they are a huge company with many business solutions underneath their umbrella to serve your marketing needs. To learn more about all that Deluxe has to offer click here.
Let’s look at 10 ways you can brand your business through digital marketing and traditional approaches.
Create an Online Presence
Your website is your #1 sales tool. Your logo should be in the headline banner of your website. Developing an online presence is crucial to spreading the word about your business. Even if your business is mostly offline, do not neglect your online presence as most customers start online first before driving to your store.
Post About Your Logo
Tell the story behind your logo and your brand on your blog. Tell your audience about the design process, the reasoning behind your color story, include your business background and any fun facts about the logo. For example, did your spouse help you name your company? This topic could engage for your target audience. Share this post across your social media footprint. This will help you gain visibility and drive traffic to your website. 
Create Branded Merch
Branded merchandise is the most popular way to market your logo. Pasting your logo on t-shirts, cups, phone chargers, caps, reusable shopping bags, etc. is a great way to build brand loyalty imprint your brand image into the minds of your target consumers. If you sponsor local community events, like a kid’s baseball league, a 5K run or a local farmer’s market that is a perfect excuse to give away branded merch.
Use Branded Packaging
Compelling packaging is a powerful communicator of your brand. Feature your logo on your packaging. It will speak volumes, so use it to enhance your brand story. You can also try lower-cost options like stickers with your logo (think Hallmark Crown) or Printing your logo on packaging tape for shipping to keep your customers informed (like Amazon) Consider what materials, color and font will express the value of your company brand. For instance, recyclable packaging shows your company’s concern about the environment.
Brand Your Newsletter or Sales Emails
If you have a sales person or a virtual assistant reaching out to leads on your behalf use branded templates to keep the messages consistent and on brand. You can leverage content that has yielded results so your VA or team doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time they reach out to a customer, build a newsletter you can also leverage a CRM system to make your email personalized too. 
Order Uniforms & Branded Name Badges
Whether your staff goes on service calls or serves patrons in your restaurant branded uniforms is a great way to show off your logo and slogan to customers. If you hate those plastic name badges at conferences, you can also display the logo on branded name tags for you and your team. It’s a great way to stand out at a speed networking event, trade shows and industry holiday party. You can also turn your logo into a lapel pins which your entire staff could wear to wear on sales calls or at special events. Deluxe offers great branded items from brands you know including The North Face, UnderArmour and Nike.
Develop a Direct Mail Campaign
When is the last time you reached out to your customer base? You could feature your logo in a campaign mailer targeting local customers. If you are a service business such as a pizza shop, dry cleaner, tree service or nail salon, you might want to develop a direct mail campaign within a 5-mile radius. Try offering a significant discount or coupon to drum up walk-in traffic. With everyone using email these days your mailer will stand out. 
Branded Collateral Materials
Business cards are a must, but why not create a refrigerator magnet with your business name and logo that you can use as a leave behind. You can also include it in your shipping envelopes to encourage reorders. Consider creating a mini-brochure to send along with your products to entice your customers into spending more. Adding a coupon for 10%-15% off your next order also helps.
Sponsor Branded Giveaways Thru Social Media
Social media giveaways are one of the few effective ways to boost your brand online and create a win/win for your followers. What better way to giveaway your merch than by offering it for free thru your Facebook or Instagram page? Create a simple contest like question of the day or week? The goal is to reward engagement. You want to build a relationship with your target consumers who engage with your brand on social media.
Leverage Your Email Signature & Content
Don’t hesitate to paste your logo in your email signature, and use it as branded artwork at the corner of your slide decks, on videos, as a watermark, or at the bottom of your photos.
People do not remember pitches and slogans they remember the story you tell about your business and your brand. If you leverage a few of these strategies to promote your business, your revenue will start to grow and flourish and your business will stand out among the competition. My wish is that you have an amazing business year in 2020.
Note: This post contains affiliate links; proceeds help me continue to provide quality content to help you succeed as your own boss.
About the sponsor
At Deluxe, our goal is to provide products and services to help small businesses brand, run and grow their business. From promotional products to retail packaging and beyond, we’ve transformed from “the check company” to provide a full suite of business solutions that meet the growing needs of our 4.5 million small business customers. Learn more about Deluxe here.
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