Finding ways to make your business name more recognizable requires ongoing effort. You want your company to be recognized as a household name in your community and beyond. However, there are some challenges when building better brand recognition you must first overcome.
There are around 31.7 million businesses in the United States. Depending on your niche, you may also compete with companies around the globe. You must become the go-to source in your area. When people think of the product or service you offer, you should be who they turn to.
Branding will be much more successful if you overcome the pain points every company faces when trying to gain a foothold in the industry. Here are the most common problems organizations face and how to overcome them.
1. Knowing Who You Are
One of the major problems businesses face is figuring out who they are so they can promote themselves. If you are a brand new company, you may still be finding your unique value proposition (UVP). You can’t brand what you don’t understand.
Start by listing all the reasons you formed the company in the first place. Most people face their own pain points and look for solutions. Unhappy with the options, they found a business to meet the needs of the local community. You might also be passionate about a cause or feel the industry is a good investment.
Dig deep into the reasons you do what you do. Define your goals not only for company revenue but for bettering the lives of your customers.
2. Finding Consistency
Brand recognition is often a culmination of consistent effort. Each time people encounter your company, they should get the same message and appearance. Create a style guide outlining where your logo gets used and how. You should also define a color palette, typography and voice.
Think about where you encounter customers and leads. Shipping boxes are one example of an opportunity to find consistency. You have mere milliseconds to make a first impression.
Your shipping container is the first thing buyers see when their order arrives. Personalizing it with your logo helps drive home branding. Those who handle the package also get introduced to your brand via the box.
Think of companies such as Hello Fresh and Chewy. They use customized shipping boxes as an additional advertisement for their brands.
3. Hiring Graphic Designers
The appearance of your website, product packaging and ads all come together to create your brand image. Hiring professional designers makes a massive difference in the impression you leave.
However, small businesses often have small budgets for hiring talent. Fortunately, you can enlist the help of freelance designers and others to fill the gap without having to put a full-time staffer on the payroll.
Share your style guide with anyone who works on your projects to ensure consistency. If possible, hire the same person for multiple projects.
4. Understanding Your Audience
All the fancy PR in the world won’t help build your brand reputation if you don’t reach your target audience. The cost of advanced analytics may be prohibitive to small business owners. Fortunately, there are free tools you can utilize to figure out the basics.
Your web hosting likely comes with Webalizer or another website analytics tool. You’ll be able to see who visits your website, what country they reside in and the top referrers. You can also track things such as how long each user spends on your website.
Google Analytics is another great tool for figuring out whether or not you’re reaching your target audience. Your databases give you a lot of information about your typical customer. You can also survey your regulars to see where they hang out online.
Once you’ve gathered data, come up with a buyer persona representing your typical customer. Get your message in front of those most likely to buy from you. Repeat successful efforts to increase brand recognition with the right audience.
5. Missing Productivity
For many startups, branding and other tasks fall on a solopreneur. You may juggle many hats and struggle to stay on top of regularly sharing information with potential clients.
While your business’ bread and butter may be your regular customers, you’ll never grow without adding new ones. Fortunately, even if you can’t hire staff right now, there are ways to up your marketing efforts without spending too much time.
In a survey of small business owners, researchers found there were some challenges outside of COVID-19 business owners face. Approximately 15% of entrepreneurs felt marketing and advertising were among the top three challenges, behind only cash flow and employee retention.
Seek out third-party tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer. Look for ways to put your social media posts on autopilot. Which ones propagate related content for you, so you don’t have to come up with fresh ideas every single day of the week?
You can also schedule content and social media posts in advance. Set aside a few days to plan for the entire quarter, and you can forget some of your efforts for a few months as it runs automatically.
6. Understanding Branding’s Purpose
Many organizations make the mistake of thinking branding is all about them and what they do. Name recognition is about how the consumer sees your company.
Not only is branding about the purpose of your organization and the promises you make your customers, but it must reflect in every aspect of your operations.
You must highlight the benefit to users through your logo, headlines and tagline. The colors you choose should tap into the emotional pain points your customers deal with daily. There is an entire psychology to colors you can tap into for inspiration.
Write out a list of pros when people choose your company over a competitor. How can you tie your UVP into your marketing strategy?
Look for Shortcuts
Over time, you’ll become more familiar with the challenges inherent in brand building. Seek out automation where it makes sense. Delegate work to others to free up your time for more creative endeavors. As your business grows and you can bring in additional help, the pain points will ease. Your name will be the first one on people’s lips when asked about your industry.
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