What problem does your business solve? How does your business stand out from the rest? Why are customers choosing you over your competitors?
The answers to these questions will help you define your brand. Once you have defined your brand, you will be able to market your business better.
Start with developing a mission statement. Customers are attracted to businesses that have meaningful purpose beyond making sales.
For example, a bakery’s mission statement might be: “We believe life should taste good. We bake high quality goods to help people savor life—from special occasions to the everyday slice of bread.” The bakery’s purpose is more than just selling bread, cupcakes, and cookies to earn money. It is about savoring life.
Customers need to know about you. Your brand needs to be memorable and recognizable. In every communication to customers, make sure that you are consistent in your messaging. Logos and slogans are great ways to showcase your brand and increase your brand recognition.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Make your brand visible by creating a logo. Your logo should be simple, look professional, and connect to your business. If you are an artist, you can design one yourself. If not, hire a graphic designer or marketing team to help you create a memorable logo. Once you have your logo, use it across all your marketing channels. Use it at your store, on your website, and in social media.
Along with your logo, you will choose specific fonts and colors to use in all your publications. Using consistent fonts and colors across your marketing channels will make your business look professional and help with brand recognition.
A slogan is another great way to increase recognition of your brand. A good slogan will tell customers about the quality of products or services you offer. Focus on what sets you apart from the competitors. You should also connect your slogan to your business’s mission statement. A good slogan will stick with customers.
Let’s return to our bakery example. Using the bakery’s mission statement, we want a slogan that connects the bakery’s products to lifestyle. One possible slogan is: “Savor life one slice at a time.”
Use variations of your slogan in social media. Developing a variation of your slogan for a hashtag is a great way to increase brand recognition. From our bakery’s slogan, we could create the hashtag #savor. Of course, we would also want to use that hashtag with another that included the bakery’s name. Once you have a hashtag, use it in your business posts to social media. Customers can also use the hashtag in their own posts. That’s free advertising for you!
The more recognizable your brand, the better you can market your business. Good marketing always leads to more customers. You will keep those customers because of the quality you offer.
