Is Branding Relevant to Small Business?

Is Branding Relevant to Small Business?
Most small business owners/operators would probably agree that developing a stand-out brand identity is an essential part of the marketing package for corporates and large companies.

Many would add that branding is not that important for small businesses and see it as an additional expense on the P&L. So they head off to the local printer or graphic designer who designs a logo (sometimes even for free) that gets used on stationary, vehicles and other marketing materials.

From our experience in this field, we find that most logos designed for small businesses are simply graphic devices and not actually brands in the true sense of the word, and portray little about the value proposition of the company, its personality and service promise.

In actual fact, development of a meaningful, representative and outstanding brand identity is just as critical for small businesses and if properly executed, can actually be a powerful competitive advantage.

For corporates, an effective and powerful brand is a 'must-have', simply in order to be in the game.




It may not necessarily differentiate them but it does at least give them parity with their competitors.

Unfortunately, some corporates still don't understand the value of a great brand and have cruddy logos that are, in short, embarrassing and doing nothing for their businesses.

But there is significant value to the small business that has the vision and commitment to invest in having a professional marketing agency develop a meaningful and appropriate brand identity.

A brand identity is more than just a visual symbol or logo design - it defines your company's unique service promise, builds lasting brand recognition and invokes positive recall.

A strong brand enhances your company's credibility by integrating your brand strategy with consistent graphic application across all market and customer contact points.

Think about this - if most small businesses have weak branding, then by developing a compelling and effective branding package you can position your company ahead of your competitors in the mind of your target market.

A strong and effective brand can definitely be a competitive advantage in the cut throat world of small business.

To develop a strong brand identity, your marketing agency needs to work closely with you to understand the needs of your customers and prospects.




They need to explore suitable graphic elements and branding metaphors for the logo device, develop appropriate colour palettes and provide guidance on how to effectively apply your branding and logo design in specific applications.

Your goal should be to ensure complete brand integrity. If the brand development process is executed correctly then your company will stand out from the mass of small businesses that simply couldn't be bothered, or more likely, don't know any better.

Professionally designed brands, usually most visibly represented by the logo device, tell the market a visual story about your company.

It speaks of attention to detail, professionalism, pride and investment in your company, presents your unique value proposition and helps you to stand out above your mediocre competitors.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the Author: Wayne Attwell is the founder and senior brand strategist at Bold Horizon. He has over 25 years of international marketing and business experience across large corporates and SME's. Initially trained as an industrial designer, Wayne also has an intuitive feel for great design and presentation. For more marketing, brand development and internet marketing information visit www.boldhorizon.co.nz.

Local Internet Advertising Solutions

Local-Internet-Advertising-Solutions

Zenergy Internet Marketing - Local Internet Advertising Solutions

5 Ways To Generate INSTANT Traffic For Your Website


1. Yahoo Answers. This is the most excellent method to create immediate traffic to your internet site. If you have a Yahoo account, you’re right to start. If you don’t, well, it’ll take a minute or two to create one. Go to www.answers.yahoo.com and search for free inquiries regarding the topic that is the center of your internet site. You can utilize the built-in search function. The moment you locate an open inquiry, reply the same to the best of your abilities and put down your site’s link in the field where your source is demanded for. Do this with as many appropriate open queries that you can see. This method will succeed in two ways. Number one, it will create immediate traffic to your internet site because in a matter of 2 years, Yahoo Answers has become one of the web’s premiere authority pages. Second, you will be able to create roundabout traffic because Yahoo Answers’ pages are noticed by search engines in a matter of hours, and if your URL’s there, your internet site will be indexed just as effectively well.

2. Digg it! If you have published new subject, submit the same to www.digg.com. If your content is engaging and stimulating enough, the viewers of the aforementioned internet site can vote for the same by appropriating Digg points. If your subject garners adequate Digg points, it will display prominently well in the site’s pages for millions of persons to browse.

3. Writing statements on blogs. Browse famous blogs connected to the topic of your site. Say something on current blog entries and put your link. Perform this in a way that won’t your statements appear as spam. This tactic will succeed in two ways, as it will create both immediate and secondary traffic for your internet site much like Yahoo Answers.

4. Snitching a location at Technorati. If you have published new piece, tender the same to www.technorati.com. Classify your account under a suitable ticket. Now here’s the stealer: you can come up with whatever ticket you want. It may be a popular, well-searched tag, or it may be a ground-breaking and new tag that no one has ever used previously. New entries constantly emerge at the pinnacle of the page corresponding to the said labels.

5. The intangible my Wikipedia link. Wikipedia has quickly become one of the web’s major source sites. Search for the topic of your own site in the pages of Wikipedia. See if you can put in anything that hasn’t been discussed about the topic. If you do put in anything, place your URL as link. There is no guarantee that your link will stay there for a long time, but it’s always worth the attempt given the incredible results you can acquire from this strategy.


Zenergy Internet Marketing - Your Local Internet Advertising Solution Company