Notice Me!: A Quick Guide to Brand Building for Beginners

Are you new to the competitive world of online sales? Is your small business having a bit of trouble finding its audience?

Online sales are worth almost $500 billion each year, and growing. Carving out an online identity is well worth the effort. If you’re new to online marketing, you might be wondering where to begin.

If you’re looking to focus more attention on your brand, this article’s for you. We’ll give you the inside scoop about product branding. We’ll also help you find a local branding agency that will help you crush the competition.

What Is a Brand?

Every company has a brand, but not every company uses it to their advantage. A brand is more than just a company name. It’s your identity, a reminder to your customers of the services you provide.

Imagine that there are two local plumbing businesses. One has been around for decades and primarily works on commercial buildings. Another is newer and provides 24/7 emergency service to their customers.

The established plumbing company may not need to spend as much on advertising: they get a lot of word-of-mouth referrals. The newer company may need to spend more time familiarizing potential customers with their range of services.

Branding is the process of focusing on what’s great about your company and what makes it different from the competition.

How to Define Your Brand

A brand can be defined by its logos, its slogan, or its origin story. What inspired you to start your company? A compelling story can attract customers – and keep them coming back.

If you don’t have a website, it’s a good time to get online. Websites are great for sales because people can take their time and make buying decisions outside of normal business hours.

Your website should have a section that’s about your values, your mission, and your history. It should also have a blog and an FAQ section.

You may not feel comfortable developing your own website, but there are experienced marketing agencies that can help. They’ll talk to you about your business goals and make a website to focus on customer retention.

Product Branding for Beginners

Before you meet with your branding agency, take a little while and think about what makes your brand special. Do you offer services that your competitors don’t offer? Is your return policy more liberal? Does your staff volunteer?

There is more than one right way to reach out to your customers. It’s okay to do some research to see what your competition is doing. Are they using videos or live chat? Do they have a lot of customer testimonials?

Don’t feel like you need to imitate larger brands. Part of small business’ charm is that they’re all different. You can incorporate pictures of your staff, a video of your office, or links to other websites.

The main goal for your branding brainstorming session should be to find the value in your business. What do you have to offer your customers? How did you find the path to success?

Websites are powerful tools to reach out to new customers. Make a list of all your branding and marketing goals.

Inexpensive Branding Ideas

In addition to making a website, you’ll need a logo and a slogan. Your branding agency can help you with that, but there are ways to reach out to your community.

You can run a contest to come up with a memorable slogan. Contests and promotions are inexpensive ways to connect with potential customers. Once you find the right slogan, you’ll know.

You should also work on creating a memorable logo, but wait to roll it out. You’ll probably need to do some testing first to make sure people like your logo. It might be too bright or difficult to read.

Once you have the logo and slogan settled, you can make a video for your website. Videos don’t have to be expensive and they can reach a wide audience. They can play on your website and can be used as advertisements as well.

You can make quick “explainer” videos for your products, demonstrating how to use them at home. You might be surprised at the positive response you get from a short video.

More Insider Brand Building Tips

There are more ways to find your audience than just building a website. One of the most important marketing tools you have is online: social media. Social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter have millions of users and can be extremely effective for new business outreach.

When you make your social media accounts, try to post every other day at first. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience by posting too frequently, but you want to remind them that you’re there.

You can brand yourself on social media by choosing the content that you share. Do you want to make your audience laugh, think, or both? What kinds of articles and videos would be a good reflection on your business?

Again, an experienced marketing firm can help you with your social media strategy. They can also help you build email lists to reach out to your customers more effectively.

How To Get Started with Online Branding

Brand building is a process that starts with the core values of your business. It’s a process of getting recognized by your target audience, and it’s all about driving sales.

The great thing about a marketing agency is that they can track statistics for you, also known as metrics. They can tell you how many customers clicked on an advertisement, and how many went on to buy from you.

They can also help you reach out to people who have visited your website, a marketing strategy known as remarketing. You can show your advertisement to people anywhere in the world, at any time of day.

We have worked with hundreds of companies in industries from health care to party supplies. We’re committed to providing innovative, game-changing services to our clients. Send us an email so we can get started on your website!