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A Guide To Defining Your Small Business Through Branding

What is your company's mission? What qualities define your business? Answering these questions is the first step in building your brand, the public face of your business. It is how you communicate your values to consumers. Whether you sell financial services or pizza, a carefully crafted business persona aimed at a specific audience will raise your business above the rabble of competition and firmly stick your message in the minds of consumers.

 

Define Your Style

Are you innovative and edgy or classic and traditional? Are you upscale elegance or laid-back casual? Much of a business's persona will grow from the personalities of its founders and the type of products it sells. However, the persona must appeal to the target customer. When developing your brand, ask these questions:

  • Who are our ideal customers? List the basic demographics — age, gender, marital status, education, leisure activities, etc. Where do they live? Do they have children?
  • What do they value? You know — or should know — your customers. Maybe they value security, or perhaps they are motivated by opportunities for new experiences. Do they enjoy splurging on high-end products or are they tight with the purse strings?
  • How do your businesses values align with those of your target market? Determine the values that will bring customers to your door (or website) and build your brand around those. If you are courting Millennials, recognize that research shows they value authenticity, they tend to be socially liberal, and they are wedded to their smartphones. How do your business's values align with what appeals to this demographic?

 

Present A Consistent Style Across All Platforms

Everything from the design of your logo and the colors of your website to the attitude of the person that answers the phone at your business projects your brand. If you have determined you are a "fun" company, then add some whimsy to your internet properties and print materials. Your company culture should reflect the value you place on enjoyment so that your employees will carry this message through in employee/customer interactions.

If your target demographic is traditional and conservative, you will want a formal appearance on your public face, business suits rather than khakis and classic fonts over funky type on your website.

 

Bring Your Employees Onboard

Provide your employees with training in how you plan to broadcast the company message. Develop protocols for dealing with the public, and create templates for social media posts and website content so that everyone in your organization understands and communicates the company's mission and values. Tweets on your company Twitter page, procedures for handling customer complaints and email sales campaigns all define your business to the public. You want your brand to shine through with each transaction.

 

Your brand is a statement of your values. It is a promise to consumers: "This is what you get when you do business with us." Follow through on that promise, and you will build a solid customer base; a base that will share, tweet and pin their endorsements of your business and become ambassadors of your brand.

 

Unless otherwise stated, opinions expressed are those of the respective authors and not necessarily those of the sponsoring party, City National Bank (CNB). The information is provided without warranty and no recommendation or endorsement by CNB is intended or should be inferred unless specifically stated.

Visit City National Bank's News & Insights for small business tips, trends and updates.

 

For more tips and inspiration for small business owners,
visit CBS Small Business Pulse Los Angeles.

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