7 Steps to (Effectively) Branding Your Business on a Budget

In marketing, the word “brand” seems to be used a lot – the leading brand, off-brand, personal brand … you get the picture.

But there is often confusion about its importance in business. What does that mean? Should you hire an expert?

Most of all – branding is expensive, right?

Not exactly. As it turns out, there are some creative ways to effectively brand your business without spending a lot of money. And while this can take time, ROI doesn’t go unnoticed – in some cases, it can even help you save money while expanding your business.

Building your brand is a critical part of developing your business. This is the basis for giving your company a voice, identity, value and awareness among consumers. And thanks to the multitude of resources, tools, and platforms available today, building a brand may not be as complex (or costly) as some think.

So read on and see how you can use the following seven steps as a guide for building your brand.

How to brand your company on a budget

You don’t have to break the bank to grow and maintain a brand. In fact, you can do most of these tips without spending any money. The most important things to keep in mind when building a brand are keeping an eye on your customers and delivering messages that support your company’s mission.

Let’s discuss a budget-friendly way to improve the budget below.

1. Create a persona to understand your audience.

You have probably heard that knowing your target audience is the key to creating marketing messages that appeal to them. A good way to get to know them? Create a buyer personality – a semi-fictionalized representation of the values ​​and properties of your ideal customer.

Personas describe the challenges of this customer and where your company fits in to solve their problems. Below is an example of one Buyer personalityMarketing Macy. Notice how my Persona lists demographic data like age and education, as well as the tools you need for everyday life like a CRM.

The needs, goals and behavior of your potential customers determine how you convey your product or service. That’s why I want to focus on a B2B strategy for Macy that meets their lead generation and brand building goals.

Understanding these goals will help you determine what type of media your personas are consuming, what motivates them, and where they “live” online. With this information, you can develop a compelling, effective brand that reaches the right people.

Make your own buyer personality free with HubSpot’s MakeMyPersona Tool that guides you through a series of questions about your ideal customer. The tool is fun, interactive, and is designed to make you think critically about who you want to achieve with your brand and how you want to achieve it.

2. Develop an identity and voice for your brand.

Once you’ve identified your buyer personalities, your brand can take shape. Create a brand identity – what defines your brand? your brand – and his voice, which is the sound that you use in a copy or public communication.

Developing brand voice and identity is similar to creating your personas. But instead of answering questions about your goal audienceThey answer questions that are more introspective for you brand: What are your company’s values, what do they represent and how should people talk about you?

When answering these questions, focus on creating content that supports them. Create compelling emails, blogs, social posts, and multimedia content that reflect the mission, values, and way you want your customers to appear.

For example, if one of your values ​​is to be accessible to customers, communicate contact information on social media pages and answer service questions that are displayed in the comment areas.

The development of your voice is reflected in the copy of this content. Do you use a conversation language that relates to customers? Or is it technically more advantageous to reach your audience?

For example, one of my favorite brands is Glossier, a beauty company with a great understanding of brand voice.

When I tag the company in a photo on Instagram, I usually get an answer with one of their famous logos: an emoji version of a smile and a wave (??). This logo is at the bottom of marketing emails and packaging and keeps the brand consistent across multiple formats.

Even if you don’t start from scratch, it can be valuable to establish a strong brand voice. Take, for example, the operating system software service Android: the rebranding 2019 was a logo revision that makes the design cleaner and more modern:

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The logo arose from the need to speak to a change in the audience. Android’s original target group was the developer, instead the company has become more consumer-oriented. The change was bred from this analysis.

3. Plan for a consistent social media presence.

So we know who your personas are. And now we have an idea of ​​what and how messaging can be created that is related to them. But where are they?

Next, since you have a clear picture of what your audience is interested in, you need to find out where they spend most of their time on social media. We talked about how effective it is to reach people where they are already present, and that includes their online behavior.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to play Inspector gadget to find out where your audience spends time online. Check out the competition – see where they’re most active (and how their language may or may not connect to the audience).

Also, see how your audience interacts with social media. For example the highest percentage of US men and women Anyone who uses Facebook is between 24 and 35 years old. If your person fits this bill, focus your strategy on Facebook.

If you find that the majority of your target audience prioritizes a social network, you have an idea of ​​where to allocate your resources. But don’t ignore other websites. If you are present on multiple social media platforms, you have the opportunity to diversify the way you reach the audience. By diversifying the methods and channels you use to get new leads, you can connect with as many potential customers as possible.

Maintaining a presence is as important as creating a presence. For example, have you ever visited a brand’s Facebook page to find that nothing has been published in the past three months? This probably didn’t have a positive effect on your perception.

This can be avoided by planning and planning social media posts as with any marketing calendar. This is free of charge Social media content calendar can help.

4. Start a company blog.

We have discussed the importance of blogging beforeand it cannot be stressed enough. It is a central part of the Inbound marketing flywheel, especially the “attraction” level, which turns website browsers from strangers to visitors.

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Indeed, blogging is a fundamental step in inbound marketing. It helps you reach qualified customers like your personas by creating the content that matches what they’re looking for. That’s why it’s so important to make blog posts relevant to the audience (and optimize for search engines – here’s how).

Customers are definitely looking for the information you can provide. This content can also serve as material for filling up your social networks. To find out what your audience is looking for, Do keyword researchHere you can use search engines to find out which topics are most important to your audience.

While blogging is tax-friendly, it takes time.

The inbound marketing version of this question would ask: “Would you rather blog and promote content created by and for your company for one hour a day, or procure content for your ideal customer from your competitors for several hours a day?”

An editorial calendar is also helpful to maintain consistent timing and fresh content on your blog. That is why we have put together a free one Blog editorial calendar template, including content management instructions and tips.

5. Make customer service a priority.

When we hear the name “Zappos”, most of us immediately think: “Unparalleled customer service.” The online clothing retailer has integrated this level of service into its core business approach.

Why is that so important? For Zappos, excellent customer service is the cornerstone of its brand Saved money for marketing and advertising. This is because word of mouth has emerged from existing and potential customers.

This is called earned media: The recognition your brand deserved and did not pay from people who spoke about something you did was remarkable.

For example, when I shop on a new website, I read reviews first. When I see reviews that mention fast shipping, friendly customer service, and quality products, I’m more inclined to buy.

This again checks the meaning of your identity and voice. As you go through these brand building steps, think about the values ​​your audience should experience, such as: B. excellent service. These values ​​shape the brand culture and influence the voice that you convey to an audience.

6. Use co-branding.

I’ll never forget what my colleague Lisa Tonersays about negotiating co-branding agreements.

“Larger companies may have a large reach,” she explains. “But what are they doing?” Not to have?”

If you’re just starting to build a brand, you may not have the range toner is talking about. You can follow the steps to create it, but it takes time. Until then, one way to get your name out to a wider audience is to work with a brand that has that reach.

However, do not just choose a brand for a partnership. Make sure it matches yours so that it makes sense in your audience’s minds. We recommend the following when looking for a co-brand:

1. Will your partner’s audience be interested in your brand? Is it difficult for you to reach this audience without this partnership?
2. Will your audience trust your co-brand? This is crucial for them to listen to you. So make sure your partner reaches the audience in a way that builds trust.
3. Do you have something to offer your co-brand? Just like Toner asks, “What don’t you have?” Experience should be a win-win-win situation: for you, your co-brand and the consumer. For example, if you have an international audience that doesn’t have your partner brand, you should point this out when discussing the partnership.

Building a brand appears to be a big undertaking, especially when resources are limited. However, there are many economic opportunities to not only get started, but to continue the momentum.

And please enjoy the process. Of course, a certain amount of strategy and logic must be required. That is why there are tools with which you can determine the different parts of your brand. But it’s a creative exercise. So keep that in mind if you get stuck on technical issues.

7. Organize a master class or webinar.

What talents do your company’s heads show every day? Are you masters of email marketing? Excellent coding? Do you deserve the superlative “World’s Best Brand Strategist” every year?

A fantastic way to grow your brand – and earn leads – is to use those talents in a master class or webinar and promote them online.

If you optimize your class with hashtags and funny subtitles, you will find an audience that is interested in the talents for whom you offer classes. These master classes can be a 45- to 60-minute session that provides an overview of your specific expertise, how to do it right, and how to use your own strategies to illustrate.

For example, if I offered a webinar, it would highlight the art of using emojis for business, an experiment that I love. I would first describe why it is important to include copies in order to attract customers. Then I explain the advantages and disadvantages of using emoji. Finally, I want to share the right and wrong times to include emojis in marketing messages.

Then I would present an experiment and report my results. Whether the experiment supports or negates my thesis always leaves room for fruitful discussions – which leads to the last part, the questions. Voila: A design for a master class that uses my talents to underpin the credibility of a company that focuses on marketing or social media, for example.

Experiments don’t cost a dime, and hosting a webinar only takes about an hour of your day. However, the result is that a company’s talents are exposed, data is provided that supports credibility, and corporate values ​​such as customer satisfaction and the provision of helpful, educational content for your audience are promoted.

Branding on a budget? Absolutely possible. When considering how you can effectively brand yourself, it is important to make the best use of the available resources. The first step is to keep an eye on your audience. The next step is to find creative ways to reach these target customers.

Have fun building your brand. After all, this is a creative process, and although not every experiment may work, you can always learn to improve. Good luck and have fun branding.