Branding Your Small Business & How to Use Social Media to Boost Your Brand
Quick, think of McDonalds! Did the golden arches come to mind? Sure they did. Why? Because McDonalds has THE most recognizable brand in the world. No matter what country you are in, people know what McDonalds is because they have a simple brand that they have stuck with for years. What can we learn from the golden arches? Branding works and here is the short list of how to make it work for you.
Take some time to think about how you want to brand yourself. Really choose wisely your logo, catch phrases, and taglines. You want your brand to stick with your business forever. Rebranding can be done, but it’s very, very difficult even on a huge budget, so imagine how hard it would be on your small business budget. So think before you leap. Hire a graphic artist to help you create a logo if your not terribly creative. This will bring return on investment, so spend the money and do it right. Same thing with your tagline. You want this tagline to tell people in a few short words who you are and what your business can do for them. You also want to think of color. The colors of your logo and business are going to be with you for the life of your business as well. Make sure they are not only colors you can live with, but like looking at because they will be on your business cards, letterhead, everywhere. Your logo, colors, tagline and brand in general should inspire trust.
Once you have chosen your brand, be consistent. Put that brand on everything! Your brand should be on your business cards, letterhead, Social Networks and traditional advertising.
This brings me to Social Media Marketing. Social Networks are a wonderful way to brand your small business without the huge investment that traditional marketing brings. It cost’s nothing to sign up on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Digg, YouTube and so on. Make sure your brand is consistent throughout your Networks and this will gain the brand recognition you seek. If you keep up your networks correctly, in other words, connect with your fans, post regularly, answer questions on time, offer advice when appropriate, link with groups and in general use your time wisely, people will start to recognize your brand and advocate for it. And this, kind reader, is the point, to have advocates for your company, brand and services. They are like an army of marketers for your company. It’s the kind of advertising business’ dream of and can’t buy anywhere else.
Take time, brand correctly and be consistent with your brands on your Social Networks and you’ll be on your way!
Article Source: Ezine Articles
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