Building your brand is one of the most important parts of running a small business.  Establishing your brand well can help you promote your business, build loyalty with customers and become more profitable. Your business doesn’t have to be a ‘big’ name in order to maintain a strong brand. There is more to the essence of your brand than just your logo and a catchy slogan.

Your brand is made up of what you do, what you’re good at and the experience that customers have with you. It determines whether customers join your loyalty program and recommend you to others – or forget about you completely.

Here are some tips for building a brand that helps attract customers and keeps them coming back for more.

Figure out what your brand stands for

Ask yourself what the purpose of your business is – beyond making money. What is your vision? What do you believe in? Are you solving a problem?

When you have an idea of who you are, you will communicate it better with your customers and will appear more genuine. As a business owner, the decisions that you make should be considered carefully to ensure you stay true to what you stand for.

Determine where you fit within the market place

Where do you want your brand to sit? Do you want to be the luxury brand, the cheap alternative or be somewhere in the middle? When your customers and prospects talk about your business or give a testimonial, what do you want them to say? What do you want people to think of when they hear your business name? Is it your quality, simplicity, creativity or innovation? Decide what you would like to be recognised for, choose what products and services you need to offer and what actions you need to take in order to get that recognition.

Think of your brand as a person

Your brand’s personality describes the way your brand thinks, speaks and acts and is demonstrated in your social media, website, and marketing messages as well as in the way you interact with customers, suppliers and business associates.

Is your brand humorous or serious? Relaxed or professional? Choose what human attributes you want your brand to have in order to make it more relatable to your customers.

Keep your messages consistent

From business cards and logo to emails and signage, your communications and marketing materials should all look and sound like they are coming from the same source. Your visual appearance should reflect your brand’s personality, set you apart from competitors and appeal to the audience you are trying to target.

Think about what your customers want

Once you have thought through these other points, consider them from the customers’ perspective. What are their needs and wants? What are they looking for from you and your industry? What do they think is most important?

Give customers a great experience every time

Make customer service a core value at all levels of your business, and become known as a brand that delivers a fantastic experience. This includes when the walk into your place of business, call you, place an order, send an email enquiry, sign up for your mailing list etc.

Once you have done the groundwork, these things will become more instinctive. As long as you know your market, remain consistent and know what you stand for you will build a successful brand.