Local businesses are the lifeblood of any community. As a small business owner, you offer more than just products or services; you offer hope to your community.
The jobs you create are the backbone of society, and check over here to see how they impact your community.
Most local business owners don’t think of brand building, but it’s something that you definitely should. Your brand is the first thing people think of long before they open your store door or consider buying your service.
Your brand is your everything
Let’s say that you have a dairy isle that you’re trying to expand and have more than one location. The most important thing for you to do is to build a brand so when people think about soft serve ice cream, they think about your dairy isle. The way you do that is by creating a brand that people immediately associate with your products.
The truth is, there are probably several dairy isles in your community, and you need to stand out from the rest. Just think about how many dairy isles there are in your city and ask yourself how they make themselves stick out. That is brand building, and it’s vital to the continued success of your business and for growth.
Your brand is who you are as a business. Some will argue that your brand is far more valuable than the product or service that you deliver. There is truth in the concept that branding is everything, so when you’re building your brand, always remember that people think of the brand first and the product second.
Consistency is key when it comes to building your brand
How often do you go to business with questionable quality control? Who wants to eat at a restaurant where the food is good one day and a week later it’s horrible? No one, so the first step in your brand-building journey is consistency.
The way you be consistent is by creating processes that people can do without thinking twice about it. So, if you own a cleaning company, you create a process for washing floors. You teach your workers what temperature the water should be, the amount of soap, and the type of mop to use. If you instill the process into people, they will produce consistent results.
Customer service plays a huge role in brand-building
How you or your workers treat your customers will play a huge role in building your brand. Think about the businesses that you visit and how the workers treat you. If you’re unsatisfied with the product or service, oftentimes, your level of dissatisfaction depends on how you were treated. If the workers treat you well, you’re less likely to walk away with a negative impression of the business.
Everyone has bad days, but you can’t treat everyone like a sack of dirt. The faces your customers see and how they react to situations play a huge role in how they perceive your business. If you want to have a rock-solid brand, you must have people working for you who are able to deliver your vision in a way that resonates with people.
Advertising is a must for brand awareness
No one is saying that you have to run ads during the Super Bowl to build brand awareness. If you have a roofing business, your trucks or vans should have your business name on them. If you have the money, you need to go one step further and find cost-effective ways to advertise.
Signs work great for local businesses as they target the people in your community. It doesn’t do any good to run online ads that people in California might see if you’re located in Maine. You need to make sure your advertising is hyper-local and gets in front of the people who you want to read it to.
You might even consider advertising in those free throw-away papers if the price is right. A few bucks can bring in a client or two, and that will not only build your brand but increase revenue as well. Always track the return on investment you get when advertising and tweak your ads so you get the best bang for your buck.
Don’t take your brand lightly
Your brand is far more important than anything you’re selling. You can offer new products or services if you find that your customers aren’t satisfied with what you’re selling. Most local businesses can’t rebuild their brand if things go south. Always remember anything that hurts your brand is something that can potentially put you out of business.
