Branding small businesses is not like branding global brands, but the experience of big organizations offers valuable lessons.

1. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com (800) 670 2809
Branding small businesses is not like branding global brands, but the
experience of big organizations offers valuable lessons.
MOS Legal Transcription Services
8596 E. 101st Street, Suite H
Tulsa, OK 74133
Simple Branding
Strategies for
Small Businesses

2. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com (800) 670 2809
Brand building is just as important for small businesses as it is for big organizations. There
are many simple and cost-effective strategies that you can use to grow your brand. As a
business transcription company, we find that companies even use the meetings and events
they conduct to build their brand image. Business meetings that are attended by partners,
clients, employees, the press, and sometimes the public, provide the ideal forum for brand
building. Let’s look at some expert suggestions on brand building for small businesses.
• Develop a brand identity: The first thing you need to do is spell out what makes your
brand unique. Knowing your brand’s value will allow you to develop a marketing
strategy around it and help it attain maximum potential. As your brand projects the
image that customers will have about your business, you need to think carefully
about how to define it. Create a slogan. Coke’s slogan “Taste the Feeling” defines an
idea of great taste and refreshment, and is used across all of Coca Cola’s products.
Define your brand with a symbol. Successful symbols allow people to identify a
product without seeing the name. However, remember that branding is about details
in terms of terms of consistent font styles, product/service descriptions, item
numbers, and any other data and imagery people see.
• Create buyer personas: Your brand identity should connect with your customers and
distinguish your product or service from competition. For that, you need to create
buyer personas or generalized representations of your ideal customers. It is
important to have a clear understanding of the customers you are trying to
attract. Having this target group in mind when creating messages to market your
product will help you grow your brand. The tone of your marketing message
should reverberate with your audience. Just deliver an original and authentic
message that supports how your target audience feels about itself. Don’t imitate big
brands by looking at what they’re doing now. Instead, look at where they started.
Remember that Starbucks was a high-end coffee bean roaster for 10 years since it
started out.
• User experience: You need to ensure that customers have a great experience every
time they interact with your brand. Both functionality and aesthetics are important.
In fact, customers’ experience with a brand is defined through three areas: visuals,
tone, and performance. Phone interactions are also important. On surveying
consumers’ experiences about their phone interactions with small businesses to
identify which factors create negative or positive feelings about a brand,

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www.softwareadvice.com reports that respondents complained about the failure of
the company to respond to voice messages. Voicemail transcription can provide the
solution. A reliable audio transcription service provider can quickly transcribe and
highlight important messages left in a company’s voicemail. Using voicemail
transcription and voicemail-to-email ensures that customers’ messages are not
ignored and would also ensure a written record for future reference. This is a critical
component of successful customer service and brand building.
• Focus on building long-term relationships with your customers: To build long-term
relationships with your customers, you need to make meaningful connections that
will want to keep them buying from you. Provide value and be true to what your
company’s stands for. Every consumer looks to get something out of a relationship
and building your brand means meeting their expectations.
• Blog regularly: Blogging can make or break your brand, says writer and marketing
expert Andrea Bell. In a blog published on www.brandwatch.com, Bell points out that
blogging is not just a way to share opinions, ideas, and thoughts, but is necessary to
create brand awareness, grow a brand, develop a community, and build a loyal base
of followers. When you blog, aim on providing good quality content and information
that is valuable to your audience. Blogging consistently can improve your company’s
online visibility, which can increase leads and conversion rates. Use social media to
engage with your customers and share useful and relevant information with them.
• Use meetings and events to promote your brand: When you hosting a business
meeting or event, choose a theme that echoes your brand. Find creative ways to
promote your brand at these events. Project an eco-friendly image – this is
important for both big and small businesses.
• Ensure a good digital user experience: There’s hardly a small business that does not
have a website. Interaction is crucial to forming customer impressions. One of the
best ways to succeed in your market is by ensuring a simple, intuitive user
experience on your website. No matter how innovative or efficient your product or
service is, digital user experience is crucial to build your brand. Make sure that
website visitors can easily find relevant information and have a pleasant shopping
experience.

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• Enlist your employees: It is important that your employees are on the page about
your values and communicate your purpose to your customers. Having your staff
spread the word about your great product or service will yield positive results as a
2015 Hinge Research Institute and Social Media Today survey revealed. Of 588
respondents, 79.1 percent whose companies had such an employee advocacy
program reported enhanced brand visibility. Up to 65 percent saw improved brand
recognition, and 33.7 percent reported better brand loyalty.
Branding is a strategy that defines your business to your staff, your customers, and the
public in general. It embodies the core of what your business is and what it stands for,
especially its values. Going by these simple strategies will make brand building easier.