Small Business Tips Top 5 Ways to Build a Brand

When it comes to small business branding, it’s not so different from branding the way a large company would. However, in other ways, small business branding is different. For one, it’s remarkably more personal and hands-on. And because it’s a small business where you have greater opportunities to interact directly with your customers, building strong relationships with your customers is a huge part of building your brand. If you are relatively new to the world of small business branding, you have come to the right place. Here are the top four ways you can effectively build your brand as a small business.

Show Your Customers How Much You Value Them

When you operate a small business, especially if it’s local, you can never place too much value on the importance of lasting relationships. And when you are operating a local business where you could see the same face every day for years, making those relationships personal is a vital part of effective branding. Show your authentic appreciation for all of your customers. Make a point of remembering the first names and little details about each person. That extra personal touch goes a long way and will cement your brand identity as one that is genuine, caring, and community-minded. And the best part? Finding different ways to show your customers you value them in this way isn’t just one of the most effective ways to build a strong brand—it’s also completely free to do.

Celebrate With Your Customers

Many big-name brands will give special discounts or a free item to their customers on their birthdays. So who's to say you can’t do that as a small business? When it comes to the holiday season or even birthdays, use these moments in life to celebrate the occasion with your customers. Surprise them with a promotional gift like drinkware, a note pad, a stylish bag, or a custom company hat. Of course, these are the items on which you can stamp your logo, but the effective part of branding this way is that it shows the customer that they are special to you. During the holiday season, consider offering special discounts and other promotions to entice customers to shop your products or services. When it comes to offering discounts and gifting customers with promotional items, a little goes a long way.

Stay Active Digitally

Sure, running a small business may mean more hands-on work right in your restaurant, storefront, office, or another type of space, but being active online is just as important. Building a presence on social media is an extremely effective and inexpensive way to build your brand. Even better, it presents an opportunity for customers to interact with your brand from the comfort of their own homes and not just whenever they go to your place of business. Use social media to upload attractive photos of your newest products or a photo of your employees doing something fun. Post news updates and all pertinent business information online like a business description, open hours, and your logo.

Use social media as a way to run promotional giveaways and other contests that encourage participation from your followers and potential customers. If you know you simply won’t have enough time to operate your business in person while building your brand on social media, designate one of your employees as the social media and branding person or outsource to an expert who knows how to carefully craft a lasting brand identity online and in your community.

Get Involved In The Community

Small businesses can create a very powerful brand identity by getting involved with worthwhile community causes and events. That said, you can align your brand name with specific causes. Don’t just jump into every event that comes up on the community calendar; you will only end up spreading yourself too thin and minimizing your effectiveness. Instead, pick one to three local organizations that are meaningful to you and collaborate with them. That way, with your involvement over the years, your business name becomes synonymous with that cause. It could be anything: charitable involvement with the public library, sponsoring a little league baseball team, or getting your employees involved in a walk to raise awareness for breast cancer. Not only is getting involved in the community a powerful way to build your brand, but these are also meaningful endeavors that will boost company morale.

Because there is so much information about brand building online, it may seem overwhelming at first. But the best advice you could follow is to just get started. It will take time and energy, but ultimately, there are fewer things that are as rewarding as building a powerful brand.