4 MINUTE READ
Your marketing message promotes your brand and tells people about the incredible products and services you provide. You control your brand message, which both attracts and repels potential customers. Alternatively PR is when someone other than you amplifies that consistent message and boosts your reputation. As sole traders and entrepreneurs, your personal brand resonates quickly with your target audience. It is about standing for something, and you will bring a human quality to your business. Brand integrity and consistency is the way you build trust. Developing your business brand Is essential to your PR and marketing strategy.
3 REASONS TO CREATE A BRAND THAT DOESN’T JUST LOOK GOOD
1. Overcome The Advertising Advantage Of Big Business
It can be tempting to assume that you need a specific visual identity before making your first transaction when becoming a sole trader. This misconception can be a heavy financial outlay of thousands of pounds. My point of view aligns with Alan Dibb’s book The One Page Marketing Plan. Marketing through brand recognition is the realm of major brands as it demands a level of saturation to penetrate your audience’s consciousness. Small businesses have limited time or budget to run adverts in sufficient quantities to impact in this “mass marketing” way. “The few times they will run their ad is like a drop in the ocean. It is nowhere near enough to reach the consciousness of their target market, which is bombarded by thousands of marketing messages each day. So they get drowned out and see little or no return on investment.” (ROI)
2. The Insider Perspective: The Branding Of Your Evolving Product Or Service
Therefore, when designing your visual branding, I must understand what you want to be known for and, importantly, what you aspire to be. Your vision will enable me to create a simple starter logo and cost-effective theme for you as a small business owner to grow into. It was like when we tried on shoes when we were children, having your feet measured, walking in the ones you are thinking of buying before purchasing and returning when your feet have grown. Finally, your feet mature, and you are walking your path. That insider perspective is how you can analyse your branding and tweak it accordingly. A designer’s X-ray vision is how I approach your visual branding, mission statements, values, and promises and commitments to potential customers.
3. Your Social Purpose… Starts Here.
With time you will flourish with your business, establish your promise and gain trust. You may draw unexpected channels of customers to you; you may diversify or pivot as you develop your offers and your pricing. Your personal and business brand will become interwoven with your company and become an ecosphere where you will build your niche and subject-matter expertise and potential thought leadership. Your brand values influence buying decisions. According to Scott Baradadell, CEO at Idea Grove. Your products and services are the body of our business; your social purpose is the heart, and your thought leadership is the mind. When all three are in place, it creates a positive force. Establishing your values, you can promote with purpose to position yourself with authenticity, accountability, credibility, and social purpose. When challenges and crises affect the perception of your brand, people will be more likely to be forgiving as your firmly cemented reputation is already within the consciousness of your target market.